


Through the Cracks

by orphan_account



Category: Naruto
Genre: Alternate Universe - Homeless, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, F/F, F/M, Fluff and Angst, Friends to Lovers, M/M, Slow Burn, Strangers to Lovers, they all work at target
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-08-03
Updated: 2019-08-28
Packaged: 2020-07-29 00:42:17
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 19,392
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20073313
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: “I’m heading out now,” Naruto says, collecting his things.Kakashi shifts in his seat.“Where are you sleeping tonight?”“Silver Creek Linear. Bathrooms should be good tonight.”“Is your water bottle filled up?”“Yeah, it’s in my backpack.”“You’re sure you don’t want to sleep at my apartment, kid?”Naruto can’t hold back his dramatic sigh. “Kakashi. No offense, sir, but when I told you and Iruka about my…” He pauses. “Situation, I made you two promise not to do this.”—almost titled: ladies and gentlemen, welcome to T-T-T-T-T-TARRRGEEETTTT *airhorn blasts*





	1. Routine

**Author's Note:**

> it’s a homeless sasunaru!au
> 
> what else do you want

Naruto hums as he glances over the colourful array of binders lining the shelves. Most of them have brightly printed designs, which he doesn’t like. But the ones that are free of girly prints are monochrome and boring.

He sighs.

“Your teachers will think you’re cooler if you just get a white one.”

Sakura leans her elbow on Naruto’s shoulder, motioning with her hand to the white binders.

Naruto clicks his tongue.

“Those are boring, though.”

“I’m just saying.” Sakura raises her hands in surrender, and then goes back to what she was doing. Ah, yes. The great art of pretend-working.

“You know,” Naruto comments as he pulls out a white binder, just to examine it.

_ These really are so plain… _

“Kakashi is gonna yell at you if you ‘sort school supplies’ all day.”

He turns just in time to flash a cheeky grin as Sakura gives him a glare that could penetrate diamond.

“_ I’m just saying _.” He mocks, raising his hand in surrender, the other heavy with his basket of items.

“Careful there, tiger.” Another voice interrupts the possible murder in isle six, to Naruto’s relief. “Uzumaki, why are you carrying all those things? Just get a cart.”

“He’s probably trying to impress someone.” Sakura bites, eyes still narrowed in offense.

Naruto scowls. “No, actually. I’m just using the basket for DIY weight lifting.”

Sakura looks unimpressed, but Ino raises an eyebrow.

“I didn’t know you worked out! We should go on runs together!”

Sakura makes an odd squawking noise, turning to Ino.

“Ino! _ We’re _ running buddies.”

Ino shrugs innocently. “Couldn’t hurt to add another buddy. It’s just running, after all.”

Before Naruto can blink, the two wander off, steps in sync but words harsh as they squabble.

_ Tch _, He thinks distantly.

Turning back to the dilemma at hand, he reaches subconsciously for an orange binder. It’s free of any designs, but at least it isn’t a dull black or white.

Besides, he can probably borrow some paint or markers from that artist guy he sees at Meadowfair.

He grabs a matching navy one and calls it good.

“I think that’s it,” Naruto mutters to himself, eyes scanning over his carefully picked out school supplies.

They’re kind of haphazardly sorted into the small basket, but he’s somehow managed to fit every last thing in without fear of anything falling out.

The only thing left to get is dinner, but he thinks he may just return to the store later. There’s still a few hours until closing time, and Naruto could probably get his binders decorated before then.

With a plan in mind, Naruto switches arms and carries his heavy basket towards the checkouts.

There are only three lines open, and they’re all packed with people. Naruto grimaces just glancing at the crowd. Their carts are full of school junk that he _ knows _ exceeds what those teenagers really need. Pencil pouches that were unnecessarily expensive, and six dollar packs of brand-name highlighters.

He’d gotten the cheapest items found in the aisles of Target. And he was going to save lots and _ lots _ of money.

While he stands in line, Naruto thinks of the school year to come.

It’s senior year, fucking _ finally _.

This past year, Naruto has gone through school thinking of almost nothing but how soon the end of it was. Once he’s graduated high school, his plan consists of getting a job and renting an apartment. Then, just living life.

The counselor at school had chastised him last year, every time he brought up the fact that he didn’t plan to attend college.

“If it’s because of money, there are plenty of scholarships that can cover the tuition. You could earn more than enough money, if you’d just study harder.”

Naruto hated the tone Mrs. Chiyo had used. The disappointed kind, the type that grated on his ears and made him feel guilty. He had nothing to feel guilty about, and the old lady wasn’t going to prove him otherwise.

“Money might be a part of it, but I don’t want to go to college because it just isn’t for me.” He had told her, voice firm and tinged with annoyance.

He’d ignored the sigh of disapproval she’d given in return.

Adults always tell kids that it’s fine to take their own path. _ It’s okay if you don’t learn as fast as the other kids, it’s okay if you don’t learn the same, it’s okay if you don’t go to college. _ It’s not for everybody, they say.

Yet, when it came down to it, teachers didn’t stop to really explain what they were teaching, or even attempt to. In the end, counsellors wanted students to attend college, whether they thought it was for them or not.

School was relatively hard for him. He’s never been sure why, because he really tries his hardest to learn and understand the stuff. Nothing ever clicks, though. Now, he’s grateful if he gets a seventy percent on a test.

That’s why he doesn’t want to go to college. Because it’ll just be another thing he fails at.

Naruto nibbles on the inside of his cheek grumpily, moving forward in the line absently.

“Hey, idiot. Pay attention to your surroundings.”

A voice that resembles Naruto’s mood cuts through his haze.

“Rude,” Naruto mutters, hauling his basket up onto the conveyor belt.

“Whatever.” Shikamaru begins scanning his items quickly, eyes drawing up to meet Naruto’s. “You look like you’re in a bad mood.”

“Maybe I am.” Naruto replies briskly, fishing his wallet out of his pocket.

“Uncharacteristic.”

“Trust me, dude, if I could give you my bad mood, I would. You always seem to be in one, anyway.”

Shikamaru makes an uncommitted sound, which makes Naruto smile a little.

“Anyways, why are you even working today?” Naruto, successfully and rather easily distracted from his bad mood, knits his brows together.

“Parents,” Shikamaru groans. “They told me that these few weeks before school, I should work overtime.”

“I think they expect you to spend your money on teenage rebellion.”

Shikamaru snorts. “My idea of rebellion is inviting Chouji over and telling him there’s no food in the house.”

They share a laugh.

“Ninety dollars flat, but with the discount it’s _ eighty one _ dollars flat.” Shikamaru sounds slightly impressed as he presses on the screen and then holds out his hand for Naruto’s money.

He hands it over easily, grinning.

“I guess I’m just good at picking things.”

“Sure. Here’s your change. Thank you for shopping at Target.”

“My pleasure, sir.”

Naruto takes his three bags and carries them back through the store, to the break room.

Kiba is sitting there with Iruka, the both of them eating a slice of the pizza Chouji had brought in today.

“Hey,” Naruto greets easily.

“What’s up?” Kiba offers a lazy wave.

“Hi, Naruto. You’re heading out?” Iruka smiles.

“Yup, just came to get my bags. I’ll probably drop in later for food, though.”

“Sometimes I can’t believe you buy all your food here,” Kiba shakes his head.

“Three square meals a day,” Naruto grins. “I’m a teenager in a budget, what do you expect?”

“Touché.” Kiba replies, scratching at his temple. “Well, see you.”

“Bye.” Naruto gives a final wave before exiting the break room and walking back through the store. It’s getting late now, so the aisles are starting to clear.

A gust of warm wind blows through his hair as he begins his walk to Meadowfair Park, where he knows he’ll probably find Painter Dude.

Painter Dude is a man who Naruto assumes is in his younger twenties. He’s a regular at the park, but he usually just sets up a stool and a large canvas to paint. Sometimes, he brings a notepad to sketch.

Naruto doesn’t really talk to him. He just spends a lot of time at Meadowfair as well, so it’s a given that they’ve crossed paths before. They’re acquaintances, at the very least. (Though they don’t know each other’s names.)

He looks nice enough to let Naturo use a permanent marker or two, right? Artists have always given him chill vibes, so he wasn't too worried.

The walk is about twenty minutes, and he passes a coffee shop on the way that nearly draws him in with the promise of the best caramel frappuccino he’s ever tasted. Somehow, though, he manages to restrain himself and walk past it. Which is good, because he’s just went eighty one dollars over his dream budget, and doesn’t need to waste another four-fifty on a sugar caffeine craze.

When he finally arrives at Meadowfair, he strolls over the familiar grass and to the far corner, where he spots Painter Dude quickly. Today, he has a canvas out on a stand, but a bag lies at his feet. Naruto isn't sure what’s in it, exactly, but he sincerely hopes it’s more art supplies and not a weapon of some kind.

“Hello!” Naruto says cheerfully as he approaches, trying to make a good impression.

Painter Dude glances up, gaze sort of creepily blank, and blinks. Then he waves stiffly, paint brush still in hand.

“How are you doing?” Naruto asks, when the man doesn’t say anything to counter his first greeting.

“Fine.”

Naruto pauses to swallow. Maybe artists aren’t as laid back as he thought.

“Sorry to bother you, sir, but I was wondering if you might let me use some of your supplies?” Naruto sets his bags down and digs through them, pulling out the binders. “I bought these for school, and I wanted to decorate them so they aren’t so plain. But I don’t have any professional things like you do.” He grins sheepishly, hoping to gain some pity points.

Painter Dude looks down at the binders, and then back up at Naruto, eyes vaguely concerned.

“Sure,” He motions to his duffel bag. “You can use anything you want. There’s paints, markers, and duct tape.”

Naruto beams, pumping a fist in the air. “Cool! Thank you, sir!”

He takes his things and drops them beside the duffel bag, sliding his backpack off to lean back against.

Once his binders are in front of him, and he decides on a design, he searches through the bag.

There are indeed various tubes of paint(and a bag of assorted brushes), but there are also clear pencil boxes with an endless display of markers, and lots of rolls of duct tape. There is also a cutting board and an exacto-knife.

“You could use the cutting board and knife to make a shape out of the tape.” Artist Dude is watching him calmly as he mixes colours together.

“Thanks,” He says again, and then his eyes trial up to the man’s painting. “Oh, wow! That’s really good, sir!”

The painting is clearly unfinished, but there the definitive shape of the park and even the people in it. The sky's the exact same colour as the real sky, and the cloud shapes are extremely similar. It almost looks like a photo.

The man turns back to the painting, and then his eyes widen a little, like he’d forgotten it was even there.

“Do you think so?” He asks.

“Sure! It’s, like, Picasso level,” Naruto assures the stranger with a grin.

Artist Dude is silent for a moment, but then he smiles. It’s very small, but genuine enough.

“My name is Sai, by the way. I apologise for not introducing myself earlier. People don’t usually approach me.”

Naruto stifles a laugh.

_ That’s because you seem sort of weird, dude. _

“I’m Naruto Uzumaki.”

He looks away to set up the cutting board and white duct tape. He places the tape in squares on the board, so he can cut shapes into them.

“How old are you?” Sai asks. It seems now that the ice had been broken, Artist Dude had an actual personality.

“I’m seventeen. But I’ll be eighteen in October!”

“I see.”

“How old are _ you _?”

“I am twenty years old.”

Naruto hums, beginning to carve out his shape on the board. It’s surprisingly easy with the sharp tool. He supposes that’s why it’s called an exacto-knife.

“Are you in college?” Naruto keeps the talk going. He likes to make conversation, if possible.

“Yes. Can you guess what I major in?” There’s a new lilt to Say’s voice—one of delight.

“Hmm,” Naruto pretends to think. “Art major?”

“Indeed.” Sai replies.

“What do you plan to do with your degree?”

Naruto is being casual, but it always intrigues him when he speaks to people in college. That’s probably why he’s such good friends with most of the people at work. Most of them are college students.

College kids’ views are always so different than his, and he sometimes wants very badly to be swayed by their words.

“I’d like to illustrate children’s books,” Sai says, voice oddly soft. “Or, maybe when I’ve had some experience, it would be a joy to produce my own cartoon series.”

“That sounds super cool, Sai.”

“What do you plan to major in?” Sai questions.

Naruto glances at him from the corner of his eyes, dreading the disappointment in the tone of this stranger when he tells him he doesn’t want to go to college.

Sai is blending the grass into the sky, and it’s honestly a terrific. Naruto doesn’t know much about art, but he feels an odd longing just looking at Sai’s work.

“Nothing,” Naruto tells him, honestly. “College doesn’t sound like my thing. I’m barely surviving high school.”

He starts carving out his shapes quicker, thinking Sai’s distaste might not be something he’ll want to endure forever.

“Oh well,” Sai says, but his tone is unchanged. “College isn’t for everybody. Isn’t that what they say?”

Naruto huffs. “Sure, but it isn’t really what they mean.”

To his surprise, this draws a small chuckle from Sai.

“Social cues are hard to understand sometimes, hm?”

It’s Naruto’s turn to laugh.

“You’re right.”

—

About an hour later, Naruto has finished his seemingly endless designs, and placed them on his binder. He’d gone back over with a coral coloured paint to add the finishing touch.

“Oh, it’s those Japanese things. What are they called?” Sai takes a break from his painting to lean over and examine Naruto’s binders.

“Narutomaki.” He snickers, appreciating his work.

“Clever,” Sai mutters under his breath.

“Anyways, Sai, I have to go get dinner. But maybe I’ll come by and visit you again sometime!”

“Sure,” Sai agrees, smiling. “That would be fine. Maybe I can give you an intro to painting.”

Naruto winces playfully. “I dunno if that would turn out well at all.”

“Well,” Sai hums, and then turns back to his painting.

Naruto takes that as his cue to leave, and carries his bags with him as he treks back across the lawn.

Now it’s time to make his way back to Target for dinner, and then maybe hang around and wander around the clothing section for any deals.

He doesn’t _ need _ any new clothes, per say, but it is traditional to start the new year with a new wardrobe. Too bad clothes are so expensive.

The walk goes by kind of fast. He thinks after walking the same roads so often, the distance halves.

Naruto is greeted by Ino up front, as she’s just leaving the bathroom.

“So, will you come run with us?” She asks, falling into step beside him.

“Mm, what does Sakura think about that?”

“She can live with it.”

Naruto exhales sharply, frowning. “You know, Ino, I would’ve thought you’d be fine with it just being you and Sakura.”

Ino pauses, blinking owlishly as they pass through the school supplies and body and bath, towards the grocery.

“Excuse me?”

“I’m only observing, but,” Naruto attempts to sound easy going, since he knows that pointing anything out to Ino(or Sakura)is a minefield. “Aren’t you like, in love with Sakura?”

“Wha—“ Ino sputters very suddenly, sounding like she was either choking or dying. Possibly both. She grabs Naruto’s shoulders and stops then both, eyes wide. “Is it that obvious?”

Naruto gives her an unimpressed look.

“Oh my god,” Ino whines. “Oh no. Do you think she knows?”

“I think she’s _ also _ in love with you. We all talk about it when you two aren’t around.”

“We?”

Naruto chuckles. “The staff and I. We all see it, but neither of you do.”

Ino makes another choking sound, bringing his hands over her face.

Naruto uses his newfound freedom to proceed toward the vegetables.

Whilst his picks out his salad for the day, Ino rambles to him about _ just _ how in love with Sakura she is. Naruto hadn’t even asked. Figures that after a tiny bit of prying, she’d flow open like a waterfall.

_ Lesbians _ , he thinks. _ They’re so...hyper. _

“Well, anyways.” Naruto tries to make Ino stop, as she’s getting sort of personal as she lists the things she loves about Sakura’s body. But she’s on a roll.

“I mean, have you seen her lips? They’re like pillows of strawberry lips gloss, Naruto. Didn’t you used to have a crush on her?” Ino wacks Naruto’s arm lightly.

“Um, sure. Most people do when they first meet her,” With a smirk, he continues. “Then they get to know her.”

Ino’s eyes widen, but surprisingly, she laughs a little. “You’re terrible!”

They approach an empty-ish line that Sakura is scanning for.

“So, you think Sakura likes me too?” Ino asks quietly, posture completely different now that they are in Sakura’s view.

Naruto tries not to sigh. “Yes, Ino. Even more, I think she’s just as in love with you as you’re in love with her. So just fucking confess already.”

“But what if she’s just being nice? We’re friends, and friends are supposed to compliment each other and shit—I, just,” Ino is starting to have a meltdown of sorts, Naruto realises, and he has no idea how to stop it.

Miraculously, though, the very second that it’s Naruto’s turn to pay, she composes herself completely, saving him the trouble.

“Did you find everything okay?” Sakura asks, seemingly on reflex, before realising it’s just Naruto and grinning. “Oh, hey. Dinner?”

“Yup.” He pops the p, already drawing out the approximate sum of his things.

“Naruto isn’t going to run with us,” Ino says, leaning her arm on the little surface beside the register for writing checks. She manages to sound both disappointed and relieved.

_ Girls are scary _, Naruto thinks.

“Four sixty,” Sakura mumbles, eyes trained on Ino.

Naruto hands over the money.

“His loss,” Sakura eventually replies, opening the register and collecting Naruto’s change.

“I go on runs by myself,” Naruto comments.

“How manly,” Sakura drawls, dropping his change into his palm.

“Thank you, I hardly even try.” Naruto sticks his tongue out at Sakura as she does the same, and Ino giggles.

Then he walks off, towards the break room. He leaves Ino to talk to Sakura, and prays he’ll make it to the back before he runs into anyone else.

Naruto manages to do just that, and enters the break room with a sigh of relief. Only to spot Kakashi.

He waves politely. “Hello, sir.”

“Hey, Naruto. Dinner time?”

“Yeah.” Naruto picks up a plastic fork on his way to his seat across from Kakashi. He sets his things down, and then opens up his salad, beginning to assemble it.

Kakashi, surprisingly, doesn’t say anything for the majority of Naruto’s meal(which consists of a salad and an apple, as usual).

It’s when Naruto is on the last bite of his apple that he speaks up.

“Schools starting soon. Are those your supplies?” Kakashi motions to the bags on the floor.

Without looking up from his apple, Naruto nods. “Yeah.”

“I see. Are you ready to study hard?”

“Yeah.”

“Last year of high school already. Scared?”

“Not really, sir.”

“Do you have a plan for after high school, then?”

“Hey, Kakashi, what’s the story of your scar, again?” Naruto retorts, looking up to eye the long line down Kakashi’s right eye.

Kakashi sighs warily, his daily attempt at getting Naruto to open up failing once more.

Naruto barely resists a cheeky smile.

When he finishes his apple, it’s already almost nine.

“I’m heading out now,” Naruto says, collecting his things once more.

Kakashi shifts in his seat.

“Where are you sleeping tonight?”

“Silver Creek Linear. Bathrooms should be good tonight.”

“Is your water bottle filled up?”

“Yeah, it’s in my backpack.”

“You’re sure you don’t want to sleep at my apartment, kid?”

Naruto can’t hold back his dramatic sigh. “Kakashi. No offense, sir, but when I told you and Iruka about my…” He pauses. “_ Situation _, I made you two promise not to do this.”

_ Don’t pity me. _

Kakashi never looks angry or annoyed that Naruto doesn’t take up his offers of shelter and free food. He always just gets this sad look, like a kicked puppy. It makes Naruto feel worse than any aspect of his entire sad life.

“You’re right. I’m sorry,” Kakashi says, like he always does. “Be safe.”

“I always am.” With that, Naruto finally slips out of the break room.

The night air is fresh on his skin.

Silver Creek Linear Park is closer than Meadowfair, so Naruto makes it within ten minutes or less.

The park is empty, besides a few teenagers on the basketball courts. Bugs surround the lights that turn on sometime before dark, illuminating the barren area.

Naruto wastes no time in entering the bathroom. He sets his things down, and then uses the toilet to reach the piece of plywood he hides in the rafters. After shoving the wood through the door handle and the handle he’d installed on the wall himself, he grabs the lysol spray from behind the toilet and sprays the room. Then, Naruto opens the window a little and prepares his bed.

His sleeping bag is large enough for two people, so he folds it over for added padding. It’s worn out, but it’s still comfy. The blanket he owns is fluffy and warm, and it’s managed to survive through the last year. He slips his sweater off, and then bunches it up as a makeshift pillow.

With his bed ready, Naruto sits.

He pours his school supplies out onto the space in front of him. He can sort through and make it all fit into his duffel bag if he tries hard enough. His backpack is usually reserved for clothes and toiletries during the summer, anyways.

Naruto moves quietly and silently, shoving the folders and binders on the bottom of his duffel bag, and then piling the other things on top.

This feels so banal to him. If he ignores the odd smell, it’s almost like he’s in a bed. Like he’s sorting through his brand new school things in his room, while his parents are downstairs, watching some terrible reality TV show. If he disregards the way he can feel the hard concrete, even beneath two layers of sleeping bag, his fantasy almost becomes real. Almost.

Thirty minutes later, Naruto gets up and flicks the lights off. He sets his watch alarm for 6:30 A.M.

“Good night,” He says to no one.

—

The next morning, Naruto wakes up to the beeping of his watch.

He falls into the easy routine of using the restroom, washing his face, and brushing his teeth. He runs his fingers through his hair once and calls it good.

After changing into his running clothes and wrapping his blanket and sleeping bag away, Naruto hides the plywood again. He slips his backpack on and swings the duffel bag over his shoulders. Then he exits.

Naruto loves running without his things, because it’s always light and freeing. Running is like flying to him, with the wind in his face and the burn in his muscles.

Still, even though he has to carry all of his things until school starts, the added weight does wonders for his muscle growth. The forty five-ish minute run is that much more rewarding.

The familiar path to the YMCA is full of traffic and random people who are out this early.

Naruto thinks it’s funny that he wonders incredulously why these crazy people are awake so early, and then remembers that he’s awake too.

Today he starts work at nine, and works until five. After that, he thinks he’ll probably wash his clothes and possibly visit Brigadoon park.

For the amount of hatred he has towards school, he does miss the structure it gives his life. Having homework to do after work is sort of nice in theory, though he knows that the second he sits down to do it, he suddenly hates everything about it.

During the summer, he just wanders around kind of aimlessly. It’s boring.

The run feels long today, but he makes it to the YMCA in less time than usual.

“Thirty-seven minutes,” He breathes, stopping the timer on his watch.

It’s already almost a quarter to eight, which means he has about a half hour to shower and get a cab back to Target.

He scans his card at the front desk, and then enters. The showers are just down the hall to the left, and he wastes no time in stuffing his things into his locker, then dragging his shower necessities to an empty stall.

Once he closes the curtain, he turns on the water and scrambles out of shot of the cold water. It always takes a moment for it to warm up enough to step into it. When it does, Naruto begins washing himself immediately.

Another plus about school is that he doesn’t have to run all the way across San Jose just to shower. Plus, he doesn’t have to pay for a membership to the Y. Showering in the locker rooms is easy enough, even when there are other people there.

Even after all this time, Naruto is still surprised by how easy it is to pass through high school undetected. If someone tries hard enough, it can be like they don’t exist. Which is what Naruto does. It isn’t that he _ can’t _ make friends, but more that he doesn't see the point in doing so.

Even his work friends are just that—work friends. He never sees them outside of a working environment, and he doesn’t really plan to.

His dream apartment is not going to be in San Jose, after all.

His shower is over before he knows it, and he towels off inside the stall.

Naruto pads to his locker, taking his bags out and shoving his shampoo and body soap into his duffel bag. Then, he takes out his Target uniform and changes quickly.

His watch reads 8:24 when he exits the locker room.

Getting a cab from here is a sort of luxury, but it’s also a necessity. He’s never been late to work before, and he doesn’t plan to start now.

Naruto uses the phone at the front desk to contact a cab service, and gets one sent to him.

Against his better judgement, he purchases a granola bar from the vending machine.

The wait for the cab is pleasantly short, and he gets in easily.

“Target on Silver Creek Road,” He tells the driver.

“You got it.”

Naruto is glad when the driver doesn’t make conversation, because he’s actually getting sleepy again. It’s uncharacteristic of him, if he’s honest, but he allows his eyes to droop closed.

Before he knows it, Naruto’s jerking awake from the call of the cabbie.

“We’ve arrived, sir. That’ll be $23.47.”

Naruto sits up abruptly, digging his wallet out of his pocket.

“Thank you,” He says as he opens the door and gets out.

The walk through the store is quick, and before he knows it he’s pushing into the break room.

“Naruto!” Iruka is sitting in the office that he and Kakashi share, but he gets up to lean in the doorway, arms crossed. “How are you today?”

“Kinda tired, to be honest with you.” Naruto rubs his eyes, brushing past Iruka and setting his things down right beside the office window, where it’s out of sight.

“Rough night?”

Naruto sighs.

“Actually, a pretty good night. I think I just went to bed kinda late.”

“Well, I hope your ready for another long day.”

“Don’t remind me,” Naruto groans.

He opens the fridge to grab his milk. On the top, in big letters, it reads _ NARUTO UZUMAKI’S! TOUCH AND SUFFER! _

Shockingly, the milk had become a sort of joke between his colleagues.

“I brushed your milk today while reaching for my sandwich, Naruto. Is today the day I die?” Kiba would joke.

“I had to pick up your milk to get to my lunch today. So, do I get to choose the method of torture?” Chouji would grin.

Shikamaru would just blatantly pick the jug up anytime they were both in the break room together.

Naruto smiles to himself as he pours himself a bowl of cereal—his breakfast.

Just then, Lee and Gaara walk in.

Lee is speaking animatedly about something, waving his arms around. Gaara just listens, a small smile on his face.

“Greetings!” Lee calls to the room, completely louder than necessary.

“Hi.” Gaara says at a normal level.

“Hey, you two.” Iruka greets with a grin.

“Yo,” Naruto waves. “What’s up?”

“Lee was just telling me about something his uncle taught him.” Gaara replies, making his way over to the fridge and placing his lunch box inside.

“Yeah!” Lee beams. “Uncle Guy taught me all the ins and outs of pool. I could probably beat any of you, now.”

“Impressive.” Iruka says, but there’s sarcasm under his tone.

Lee is unaffected, and begins listing the skills needed to take anyone down at pool.

Gaara listens, though makes many unimpressed expressions.

Iruka returns to his office, shaking his head.

Naruto eats in silence, but nods every once in a while. Lee’s stories are always long and mostly useless, anyways.

The clock strikes nine o’clock almost as soon as Naruto washes his bowl and puts it away.

“Into the fire,” Naruto comments as he, Lee, and Gaara exit the break room to do their jobs.

Naruto heads straight for the school supply section, guessing that it would be the most like a tornado zone of all places. Plus, he likes helping the kids find their supplies.

When Naruto approaches the notebook aisle, he’s immediately greeted with a mother and her three children.

“Excuse me, but how hard is it to find a package of loose leaf college ruled paper?”

_ Seriously? _ Naruto groans internally. _ A Karen, right off the bat? _

“Sorry, ma’am, but they aren’t in this section…”

—

The end of the day arrives despite all its stubbornness.

“Any plans tonight?” Gaara asks politely, as they sort through the toy aisles—their last task of the day.

“Wash clothes. Sleep.” Naruto exhales shakily. “I’ve been so freaking tired lately. It’s annoying.”

“Maybe you’re not eating right,” Gaara says thoughtfully. “You always have ramen for lunch.”

Naruto scoffs in offense. “Excuse you, yesterday I had…” He pauses, realising he’d had Chouji’s free pizza yesterday.

He doesn’t have to say anything, anyways, because Gaara gives him a meaningful look.

“Whatever,” Naruto mutters shamefully.

A customer approaches them then, a tiny girl trailing behind him. They ask about some new doll.

“I got this one,” Gaara tells Naruto.

“Really, dude? It’s so close to closing time, I can take it if you want—“

“No, it’s fine.” Gaara waves him off, and then turns to help the man and his daughter.

Naruto tells himself he’ll return the favour sometime, and then heads off to the veggie section to get his dinner.

At the register, with his carbon copy of dinner plus a Kit Kat bar, Shino scans his items in relative silence.

“Four sixty,” Shino says.

Naruto hands him the money.

“Aren’t you ready for back to school season to be over?” Naruto sighs, feeling something akin to stress working through his bones.

“Yes. There are too many moms in Target.”

“Which is really saying something,” Naruto grins.

Shino smiles just a little, and then hands him his items and change.

“See you tomorrow, Naruto.”

“You betcha.”

When Naruto opens the door to the break room, he immediately catches sight of Kiba, Chouji, and Iruka. They’re all sitting together at a single table, even though there are plenty of other open tables.

“You guys are like girls,” Naruto laughs, grabbing his fork and sitting with them at the table. “Sitting together like this.”

“Well then, I guess you just became a girl.” Chouji speaks sarcastically around his own food—steak stroganoff.

“I think you’ve been hanging out with Shikamaru too much,” Is all Naruto says.

“They’re best friends.” Kiba states truthfully.

Naruto doesn’t retort, but grins as he opens his salad. It’s a Sante Fe blend today, with corn, chicken, and cheddar. He thoroughly enjoys the salsa ranch dressing.

Iruka, Kiba, and Chouji do most of the talking, and Naruto does most of the eating. He needs to get to the laundromat as soon as possible anyways, if he wants to make it to the park in time to see Konohamaru.

He’s on his apple when Gaara walks in, presumably for his lunch box.

“You off?” Iruka asks, as Gaara opens the fridge.

“Yes.”

“We’ll see you tomorrow, then.” Chouji waves.

“Bye!” Naruto and Kiba say at the same time, then immediately glare playfully at each other.

When Naruto opens his Kit Kat, Chouji straightens.

“Hey, Naruto,” Chouji says.

Naruto glances up, and then sees the look Chouji carries. That _ down to the bone hunger _look that he gets, no matter how much food he’s eaten. It’s almost desperate. Then Naruto glances back down at his candy, and brings it closer to his chest protectively.

“No.”

“Oh, c’mon! Just one?”

“I said no!”

“I want one too,” Kiba adds, for no apparent reason other than to annoy Naruto.

He almost feels his eyebrow twitch.

“Me too, if you’re sharing,” Iruka licks his lips.

Naruto pauses, looking at a table full of expectant, hungry faces. Then he groans, snapping his candy into portions and handing them out.

“Thanks!” Chouji says, immediately stuffing it in his mouth.

“Thanks,” Kiba salutes.

“Gracias,” Iruka says around a bite of the chocolate.

“You should be ashamed of yourselves,” Naruto says grumpily, eating his single piece of Kit Kat. When they laugh, he gets even more annoyed. “I mean it!”

They just laugh again.

—

The laundromat is packed when he arrives.

It usually isn’t too much of a problem when the place is busy, since he usually only uses one washer and one dryer. But he has to wait twenty minutes for even a single washer to open up, and as he waits for the wash to finish, he sees that it will be just as hard to find an open dryer.

Because of delays, he doesn’t finish washing his load of clothes until eight o’clock. He’d been at the laundromat for almost two hours.

As he begins his walk to Brigadoon, he curses colourfully in his head. There was no way Konohamaru would be at the park anymore. Naruto would have to wait until Sunday.

Konohamaru was this twelve year old kid that, for some odd reason, had grown attached to Naruto a few months back.

It had started pretty innocently, with the kid asking him to play hide and seek with him and his friend.

“We need equal teams.” He’d said.

But then, Konohamaru had begun to approach Naruto anytime he’d see him. And soon, Naruto was unconsciously seeking out the kid.

Now, they met up two or three times awake. Naruto wasn’t sure if it was normal to hang out with three twelve year olds, but he knew that it was hella fun.

Those three kids might be his only friends.

“Sorry, Konohamaru,” Naruto mumbles to himself as he enters Brigadoon Park.

It’s, of course, empty and quiet except for the singing of crickets and locusts.

Thankfully, it’s pretty fresh tonight. Perfect for sleeping outside.

Naruto approaches the bridge, planning to set up his things and sleep right away. He’d already taken care of washing up at the laundromat, so he was good to go.

Only, when he ducks under the bridge, he spots a figure on the opposite side.

Naruto feels himself tense for a split second, but then he sees how torn up the guy looks.

It’s dark, so Naruto can’t make out much, but he does see his disheveled clothing, dirty face, and overall depressed demeanour.

Without thinking, Naruto speaks up.

“Hey, dude. You okay?”

The strangers head snaps up, and his eyes are so fierce as he glares at Naruto that Naruto can’t help but chuckle.

He holds up his hands. “I’m nice, I swear. My name’s Naruto Uzumaki. I’m seventeen, and I work at the Target down the street. Not a crackhead or anything.”

Though there are a few that Naruto comes into contact with some days, and this is a city in California, so he can understand the stranger’s concern.

The guy doesn’t speak, or even relax at all. He just watches Naruto with those venomous eyes, like he’s plotting the best way to murder Naruto.

“Um, okay,” Naruto says, beginning to feel nervous. “Are you gonna let me sleep here, or am I gonna have to find somewhere else?”

This, fortunately, makes the crazy eyes ease a bit.

“...You’re going to sleep here?”

The strangers voice is surprisingly smooth.

“Yup,” Naruto replies, sitting down on the ground where it begins to slope up towards the bridge. “This is one of the few spots I sleep. If you haven’t already guessed, I’m extremely homeless.”

“But you have a job?” The stranger reaches up and brushes some hair out of his face.

Naruto watches the movement.

“Yeah. I’m saving up all my money to buy a car. A big one, so I can live in it.”

The stranger is quiet again. Then, after a few moments of silence, he speaks.

“I’m Sasuke Uchiha.”

“Nice to meet you.” Naruto says earnestly, grinning. “I’d shake your hand, but I’m kind of terrified you’ll attack me.”

This draws the smallest, lowest chuckle that Naruto has ever had the pleasure of hearing from Sasuke.

“I’m just...new at this,” He motions around them. “This homeless thing.”

Naruto hums. “If it isn’t for you, you could always go to a Covenant House. The nearest one is—“

“In L.A., I know.” Sasuke sighs. “I just don’t think that would be good.”

Naruto is silent as he observes Sasuke for a moment.

He doesn’t look much older than Naruto, really. Just more serious and dirtier. He’s wearing pretty fancy looking clothes for a runaway, which is what Naruto assumes Sasuke is. But he thinks better of trying to guess Sasuke’s story. Nothing good ever comes of that, he’s learned.

Still, it’s hard to ignore the way the guy carries himself. Fiercely and strongly, like he’s invincible. He looks pretty beat up, if Naruto is being honest.

_ I wonder where he came from. _

As non-threateningly as he can, Naruto stands and makes his way to Sasuke’s side of the grass. Sasuke’s eyes trail over him as he approaches, but Naruto ignores it and takes a seat a good distance from him.

“Do you have a plan then?” Naruto questions.

Sasuke’s head is turned to him, and it doesn’t look like he’s going to turn away anytime soon. So Naruto meets his eyes.

They’re a dark, dark brown. Maybe blue? They look pitch black in the dark, and still venomous enough to give Naruto a headache.

“I guess not. Not that it’s any of your business,” Sasuke adds.

“You’re right,” Naruto admits.

He glances around, at the park. It really is entirely empty tonight. Not even a single teenager or adult hanging out on the benches.

“I just wondered...well. I remember how hard my first few weeks were. Do you maybe need somewhere to stay for a day or two? I guess not a _ place _, but guidance. There are a few places we could sleep. If enclosed places make you more comfortable, there’s a bathroom I sleep in about ten minutes from here.”

At the odd look Sasuke gives him, Naruto grins.

“Don’t worry! I wash it regularly. It’s my favourite sleeping spot, but it’s not good to stay in the same place twice in a row.”

Sasuke doesn’t say anything, but his gaze drifts away from Naruto’s face and onto his shoes.

Naruto tries to imagine what it’s like in Sasuke’s shoes right now. If he had recently ran away, and was stranded with no money and no idea what to do, and then a random stranger offered a “place” to stay and guidance...he admits, he doesn’t think he’d be too trusting.

Eventually, Sasuke huffs. He stands up, and brushes off his pants as he takes a few steps forward and rises to full height.

_ He’s definitely taller than me _, Naruto thinks distantly.

“Fine,” Sasuke says. “But just so you know, I can fight. Don’t try any funny business.” Then that dagger-sharp glare, right at Naruto’s face.

“Sir yes sir,” Naruto agrees, standing up himself. “I’ll lead the way. Like I said, it isn’t far from here.”

Sasuke simply nods, and then they begin to walk.

They don’t make it ten steps before Sasuke’s stomach growls aggressively.

Naruto turns with slight surprise, and Sasuke glances down guiltily, clutching his abdomen.

Naruto laughs.

“Wanna get something to eat, Sasuke Uchiha?”


	2. New

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Naruto and Sasuke get to know each other.
> 
> Sort of.

The more Naruto thinks about it, the more he’s beginning to regret offering help to Sasuke. Sure, so far he doesn’t seem creepy or malicious, but he was still a  _ stranger _ . For all Naruto knew, Sasuke was planning to steal his stuff while he slept, and then Naruto would be broke and without his necessities. 

He resolves to get to know Sasuke during their meal. If he doesn’t like him, Naruto would simply give the poor guy twenty bucks and send him on his way. 

As they walk, Naruto tries to make conversation. The silence is awkward, but he also needs to get something out of Sasuke. 

He really hadn’t thought this through at all. 

“So, where are you from?” Naruto tucks his thumbs underneath his backpack straps, turning to watch his new acquaintance. 

Sasuke’s eyes are focused on the road ahead of them. They flicker from building to building, and they even come close enough to the right that Naruto is sure he’s being watched from Sasuke’s peripheral vision. 

“Sacramento.” His voice is quiet. 

Naruto wonders what this guy had been through to make him so jumpy. He seems on edge. Alert. Like he expects to be attacked at any moment. 

_ Do I really look that intimidating?  _ Naruto thinks semi-smugly. 

“Oh! You haven’t traveled too far, then. Unless you walked?” 

Sasuke hums affirmatively, but his gaze remains ahead. 

Naruto bobs his head, reminiscent of a nod. “Then it is pretty far. You must have strong legs.” 

“I do judo.” Sasuke retorts almost immediately. Defensively? No…

Naruto frowns, tapping his fingers rhythmically against his backpack strap. 

“You don’t have to bring up the fact that you could beat me up all the time,” Naruto sends a pouty face in Sasuke’s direction, though he’s not looking. “If I were planning to murder you, I wouldn’t have offered you food.” 

Sasuke whips his head to give Naruto an overly harsh glare. 

Even though it’s a bit of an overreaction in his opinion, Naruto can understand the wildness in Sasuke’s eyes. The first few weeks are terrifying, especially in a big city. On the other side of the spectrum, Sasuke was putting his trust in a random stranger, which couldn’t have been easy. 

“Jeez, dude. That look alone could make Nazi soldiers crack.” 

This, for some reason, makes the corner of Sasuke’s mouth twitch. 

Naruto grins, feeling a sense of pride wash over him. 

He motions for Sasuke to turn left onto the next street. They stroll in silence for a few minutes, with nothing but the sound of their footsteps filling the air. 

“What’s working at Target like?” Sasuke asks, suddenly, as they wait on a corner for the cars to pass. 

Naruto is taken aback by the question, but is quick to recover. “At this time of year, it’s busy. Everyone is looking for deals, and being literal dicks about it.” 

Sasuke makes a throaty sound. It's all but a laugh. 

It’s all the affirmation he needs. Like a dam, words begin flowing from Naruto’s mouth. “I had a lady come up to me the other day and ask if she could look in the back for something she wanted. I was like, no way lady! That’s reserved for the employees! Not that there’s really anything back there, anyways. And she got all mad about it, wanted to speak to the manager. But he just told her the exact same thing.” 

“Oh,” Sasuke comments. It’s simple and small, but Naruto can hear the underlying amusement. 

“Other than clueless customers, though, working at Target is pretty nice. I get a twenty percent on fruits and veggies, and ten percent on everything else. Plus, the people who work with me are nice enough.” Naruto’s hands begin waving around insistently, making gestures at odd times. 

It’s been a while since he’s spoken this freely to someone. At school, he doesn’t exist. At work, he’s sort of an all-business type of person(though his coworkers make it unnecessarily difficult to work without making any sort of bonds). He guesses it’s just easier to spill his inner thoughts when he’s speaking to a stranger. Furthermore, a stranger who can’t really say much, since he’s offering food. 

Soon thereafter—just as Naruto finishes telling Sasuke about what a pain stocking with Shikamaru is—they arrive at Wendy’s. 

“I know it’s just fast food, but it’s the end of the week, and I’ve already put most of my extra money into my savings.”  _ Plus, a fast food joint is the only place who won’t question reasonably dirty people. _ “Also, I don’t really eat out—“

“It’s fine.” Sasuke says, voice holding more volume than it had all night. “I don’t care. At least it’s food.”

Naruto purses his lips, glancing at Sasuke’s relatively blank expression. 

It’s almost impressive, how emotionless Sasuke remains. As of now, his emotional range consists of calm and hostile. 

“Alrighty, then,” Naruto says, a little unsure of how to respond—which never happens to him. He’s always been a chatty person, even when other people obviously aren’t too excited to listen. He decides on “Happy to help.” 

At those words, Sasuke’s eyes flash dangerously, and he storms into the restaurant before Naruto. 

He sighs. The full A to B, Naruto thinks blandly. Zero to one hundred.

He follows his grouchy new acquaintance inside, despite his overall confusion at his behaviour. 

Sasuke is already leaning against the metal railing, eyes cast on the menu. He looks relatively calm once more, but his foot taps on the ground rather loudly. 

“Know what you’re gonna get yet?” Naruto asks, walking ahead to stand at the register. 

“No.” Sasuke says, and his voice carries a twinge of...panic? 

Naruto twists around to catch sight of Sasuke’s expression, but he just looks angry again. His foot taps faster. 

He must be a picky eater. 

“I am  _ not _ , I've just—“ Sasuke huffs irritably. 

Naruto frowns thoughtfully. “Did I just say that out loud?” 

Sasuke gives him a hard look, but Naruto just grins in return. 

After a second, Sasuke crosses his arms and glances away from Naruto’s eyes. “I’ve just never eaten here before.” 

In his defence, he does look embarrassed as he says it, but that does nothing to ease Naruto’s overwhelming shock. His jaw hangs open. 

“You’ve never eaten at Wendy’s before?  _ What _ ?” 

“It’s not like I haven’t  _ wanted _ to—“

“May I take your order?” 

Naruto turns back around to smile apologetically at the cashier, who’s a plump old woman with a kind smile. 

“Um, yes please. I’ll have a number one, large. And he,” Naruto jabs a thumb to Sasuke. “Will have…” He draws out the word, scanning the menu quickly. “A number thirteen.” 

“Okay. Any sauce with that?” 

Naruto glances back at Sasuke. 

He looks clueless. 

Holding back his mirth, Naruto asks for one of each type. 

“You got it. That’ll be $12.54 today, sir.” 

Naruto picks the money from his wallet and hands it to the woman. 

“Keep the change.” 

She hands him his receipt and two cups. 

“Come on,” Naruto sing songs, waving Sasuke over to the soda machines. 

As Sasuke joins him, glowering, Naruto gives him his cup, along with an amused look as he fills his cup with just a little bit of ice. 

“I take it you know how to use this odd contraption?” Naruto wriggles his fingers conspirationaly. 

Sasuke’s cheeks, to Naruto’s childlike glee, are tinted pink as he scoffs indignantly. 

“Even if I didn’t, you just poured yourself a cup.” Sasuke motions to Naruto’s full cup of Sprite. 

Naruto sips at his soda, squinting his eyes. “Touché.” 

As he caps his cup and grabs a straw, he watches Sasuke’s movements. They’re awkward—obviously made by someone who’s never used a soda machine before. To be fair, Sasuke does a good job at disguising it. Someone who didn’t care wouldn’t notice it, but Naruto is watching carefully. 

Now begs the question: what kind of life did Sasuke Uchiha live that he’s never been to a Wendy’s and has never used a soda dispenser? 

After Sasuke clumsily grabs a lid and a straw, Naruto leads him to a seat by the window, setting his bags at their feet and sitting down. Sasuke sits as well, peeling the wrapper off his straw and poking it into his lid. 

Naruto decides he won’t be the one to close the silence between them. Though he’s tempted to ask some playfully offensive question, he just sips his soda ‘innocently.’

Eventually, Sasuke dips. 

“I’m just not into fast food.” He says, voice defensive. 

Naruto nods deferentially. “Okay. Fair enough.” 

Sasuke meets his eyes, and the downward curve of his lips just screams that he’s sure Naruto is judging him. But he doesn’t comment on it. 

“What did you order me, anyways?” 

“Chicken fries,” Naruto wriggles his eyebrows his eyes for effect. 

Sasuke looks slightly terrified. “Chicken...fries?” 

Naruto snorts as he breaks into laughter, unexpectedly delighted by Sasuke’s obliviousness. 

“Don’t worry, they’re good.” 

Just then, their order number is called out. 

“BRB,” Naruto says, getting up to retrieve their food. 

On his way back, he observes Sasuke, who’s staring out the window. He looks just the slightest bit less tense than he had been at the beginning of the night, which Naruto considers a huge victory. 

Maybe this hadn’t been such a bad idea. 

“Voila,” Naruto says in a french accent, placing the tray down so that his whopper is on his side and the chicken fries on Sasuke’s. 

Sasuke looks down at the packaged item, frowning. His eyes begin to slide up, like he’s going to ask for assistance, but then he snaps his gaze back down. He reaches forward and attempts to open his box. 

Naruto uses all of his willpower not to laugh. Instead, he silently opens his own box and takes a bite of his sandwich. 

When he looks back up, Sasuke is watching him with an annoyed look. But he doesn’t say anything. 

Naruto gives him a quizzical chirp. “Need help?” 

Again, Sasuke immediately turns sour. 

“ _ No _ , I don’t.” 

He turns back to the package, clawing at the edges. 

Naruto is about to interject, but then he thinks of when they were outside. 

He thinks he’d said he was ‘happy to help’? Something along those lines. This time, he’d offered to help. It seems like Sasuke’s allergic to the word. 

_ Too proud to ask for help?  _ Naruto smirks, watching Sasuke’s struggle.  _ Weird.  _

Eventually, when Naruto has eaten a good portion of his burger, Sasuke figures it out and opens the box with a triumphant smirk. 

“Ha!” He says, lifting up a chicken fry elatedly, taking a bite of it. Immediately, his face contorts into slight confusion. Then, thoughtfulness. Finally, resignation.

Naruto watches with gaiety, smirking. 

“So what did you think?” 

Sasuke shrugs. “S’okay.” 

Naruto grins mischievously, setting his burger down. 

“Okay, but what if we add a sauce?” 

He opens each of the plastic cartridges that lie beside their fries, lining them up for the optimum tasting formation. 

“This,” He motions to the bright red one. “Is buffalo sauce. Try it.” 

Sasuke raises an eyebrow, motioning to the sauce with his chicken fry distastefully, like he needs extra confirmation. 

Naruto giggles. “Yes! It’s good, I promise.” 

Sasuke grumbles something underneath his breath, but dips the chicken into the sauce and then chews experimentally. 

A second later, his eyebrows shoot up. 

“It’s spicy.” 

“Mhm,” Naruto hums. He motions to the next one. “This is barbecue sauce. You’ve tried barbecue sauce before, right?” 

“Duh,” Sasuke rolls his eyes, but still tries a bite. 

They go through the remaining sauces, Sasuke making a short comment on each of them. 

It feels sort of nice, but Naruto can’t place why. They’re just taste testing, and Naruto laughs every once and a while from Sasuke’s cluelessness, but other than that…

It’s probably just the fact that it’s late at night, and that Naruto doesn’t keep much company. What kind of person doesn’t like spending an evening with an intriguing, possibly hostile stranger? 

“Which was your favourite?” Naruto asks rhetorically, once Sasuke has finished, and is eating his remaining chicken with the buffalo sauce. 

Sasuke lifts it up as an answer, and then dips his chicken fry into it. 

“Least favourite?” 

“The sweet and sour.” 

“My favourite is the honey mustard,” Naruto says, dunking a few fries into the open cartridge. 

Sasuke says nothing, but he doesn’t look angry or oddly blank anymore. 

Calm, hostile,  _ and _ at ease. There’s a third option now. 

“After this, we’ll need to get going. I have work tomorrow, and it’s already almost ten.” Naruto glances at his watch, sipping the rest of his soda. 

Sasuke nods, closing his box again as he chews the last of his food. 

Naruto collects his things as Sasuke dumps their tray, and then he refills his soda.

“If you think you’ll get thirsty between now and tomorrow morning, I’d recommend refilling as well,” Naruto throws over his shoulder, capping his cup once more. “I do have a jug of water at all times, but I don’t know how you are with sharing.” 

He waits while Sasuke fills his cup with more water. 

They stop at the Chevron down the street before they start towards Silver Creek Linear. Naruto makes Sasuke wait outside with his bags. 

“Extra toothbrush,” Naruto raises the plastic bag at Sasuke’s questioning look as he exits. “And a pack of gum, because my impulse control is non-existent.” 

Their walk to the park is mostly silent, except for a passing comment or two from Naruto. They each chew a piece of mint gum and enjoy the cool breeze. 

Upon arriving at the park, Naruto leads Sasuke to the bathrooms. They enter, and Naruto collects the plywood. 

“In case anyone tries to get in,” Naruto explains as he slips it through the metal bars. 

He goes through the motions of spraying the room down, opening the window a little, and setting up his bed. Instead of folding the sleeping bag in half, he keeps it at full size. 

“I only have one blanket, so we can either both sleep underneath the sleeping bag, or one of us can sleep on top and one underneath.” Naruto meets Sasuke’s eyes casually. 

Sasuke looks rather tense again, standing awkwardly towards the corner of the room. 

“We’ll just both sleep underneath.” He says, eventually, embarrassment in his tone. 

Naruto nods, keeping his blanket tucked into his duffel bag. 

After that, he gets ready for bed. He brushes his teeth first, and then lets Sasuke. 

Meanwhile, he checks his alarm and settles underneath the bean bag. 

It’s been a while since he’s slept inside his bean bag; back before he’d realised that it would be way more comfy to fold it for extra padding and just get a blanket. Plus, it more versatile for the warmer nights. 

“Shut the lights off on your way back?” Naruto asks, motioning to the switch on the wall. 

Sasuke flicks it, and then pads over. 

Naruto pretends it doesn’t feel odd that there’s a stranger crawling underneath his bean bag, right now. He’s going to let Sasuke spend the night with him without even knowing him that much. 

He closes his eyes and prays silently to any god or goddess listening. 

_ If I die tonight, please let someone care enough to bury me.  _

“My alarm is set for six-thirty,” Naruto mumbles to Sasuke, already beginning to drift off. “I go for a run every morning, so unless you’re going out on your own tomorrow, you’ll either have to run with me or walk and meet me there after. I work, so again, if your staying longer, you’ll have to find something to do. You can hang around the store, or something.” 

Sasuke doesn’t reply, and Naruto nearly thinks he’s fallen asleep. But then he shifts. 

“How long are you planning to let me stay?” 

Sasuke’s voice is gravelly and low, which means he was probably close to falling asleep as well. 

Naruto shrugs. “I dunno. Like I said, I’m always on a budget. But I do have extra spending money for stuff like this. It can probably last...a few days?” 

“Why are you doing this?” Sasuke blurts, voice clear suddenly, and loud. 

Naruto takes a sleepy deep breath, turning over. 

Sasuke is facing him already, eyes open. His face is somewhere between calm and angry, which are two strikingly different emotions, but they somehow manage to fit on Sasuke’s features. 

“Because,” Naruto shrugs, reaching up to rub his eyes. “I didn’t have help when I started out. I was naive, and stupid, and I made mistakes when it came to spending money and finding places to sleep. Almost got murdered a few times,” Naruto recalls, chuckling good naturedly. He looks back to Sasuke. “The point is, dude, that you also seem pretty naive too. No offense,” He rushes to say as Sasuke gives him a steely look. “I just mean...you’ve never even been to a Wendy’s. I, at least, had been outside of my house when I started.” 

Sasuke opens his mouth to protest, eyebrows scrunching up, but Naruto continues. 

“You must have lived a sheltered life. Good for you. Doesn’t matter anymore, since you left it behind. Now, I just want to make sure you don’t get addicted to drugs, or raped, or some shit.” 

Sasuke considers his words, letting his eyes slip shut again. 

Naruto’s gaze crawls over his features without him really meaning to. 

Sasuke’s eyes open again. He exhales. “But  _ why _ ?” 

Naruto breathes a laugh, closing his eyes and moving to lie on his back. He lets an arm hang over his forehead. 

“Didn’t I just say?” 

“Why me, I mean.” 

Naruto frowns at the ceiling, processing the question. 

“I guess it’s because you’re my age? Or maybe because I could tell you were pretty clueless when I looked at you.” His head shifts to look at Sasuke again. 

_ Because you look kind of familiar?  _

Naruto wasn’t really sure what had possessed him to offer help. He’d met plenty of homeless people who looked fresh out of their homes, unsure of how to live the life of a bum. It had been sad, and maybe sometimes he’d given a bit of a five to the younger ones, but he’d never spent his money on them. 

He understood Sasuke’s question. Why now? Why  _ him _ ? 

“Can’t I just say it’s from the kindness in my heart and be done with it?” Naruto whines, unwilling to think too hard about the topic. 

Sasuke actually chuckles at that. Then he turns over. 

“Goodnight, Naruto.” 

Naruto yawns. 

“Night.” 

—

Naruto lets Sasuke borrow a clean pair of shorts. 

“You’re running with me?” Naruto asks, only slightly surprised. Sasuke did look like a healthy guy, and he’s never eaten fast food before(which Naruto doesn’t think he’ll ever get over), so he must have been on some exotic vegan diet. 

“It’s the easiest thing to do,” Sasuke speaks around his toothbrush, mouth foamy with toothpaste. 

“I guess you’re right. It’s like a forty minute jog, just so you know.” 

Sasuke just turns back to the mirror. 

Honestly, speaking with Sasuke is already relatively easy. Naruto thinks that’s why it feels so bizarre as Sasuke slips his toothbrush into Naruto’s bag and puts his shoes on. If it was kind of awkward, Naruto would know that this was just a good deed he could add to his list, and after today, he’d probably never see Sasuke again. But he finds himself wanting to spend more time with the guy. It’s like he has a roommate, and that’s pretty cool in itself. 

Once they’ve packed up, Naruto stashes the plywood and they exit. 

“I’ll carry the duffel bag,” Sasuke offers, already holding out his hands. 

“You don’t have to,” Naruto holds up his hands. “I run everyday with my things, so—“

“Just give it to me.” Sasuke bites, glaring. 

Despite the demand, Naruto knows it’s just Sasuke’s odd way of being nice. He’s slowly beginning to understand the way Sasuke acts. He doesn’t like asking for help, he doesn’t like thanking people for the help he gets, and he’s too prideful to understand why people  _ offer _ help in the first place. 

Sasuke must have been living in a room all his life, Naruto thinks in disbelief. 

“Fine. But just so you know, I could probably outrun you. You know, if you try to run with my things,” He winks as Sasuke sighs, and then they begin down the path at a moderate pace. 

Naruto is pretty impressed with how Sasuke keeps up. A few times, he even tries to run ahead of Naruto, to which he pushes himself to run faster. 

With only his backpack to weigh him down, he can revel in the feeling of flying as he runs, neck in neck with Sasuke. 

They have to wait for a stop light at some point, and Sasuke makes a cocky comment. 

“Bet you we can’t make it in the next twenty minutes.” 

They’ve been running for just under ten. 

Naruto grins evilly. “Oh, you’re on.” 

They practically sprint the rest of the way, with only a few lulls in their pace.

Sasuke is needlessly competitive, constantly attempting to get ahead of Naruto. But Naruto finds that he has competitiveness in him as well, because his body refuses to let him fall behind. 

He’s grinning, even though his throat burns, and his chest is heaving, and his legs feel like they’re about to give out. He’s never had a running buddy. 

During school, he’s always admired the track team. Even tried to join, once, but decided to drop out once faced with the numerous unwelcome looks the rest of the team gave him. 

Still, if he had time, Naruto loved going to track meets and watching. He wasn’t friends with anyone, and some of the competitors were pretty mean to him during class, but it made no difference when he saw them running. There was something monumentally amazing about watching someone push themselves harder than they thought was possible. 

He feels that joy in himself as they arrive at the YMCA, both of them wheezing and sweaty. 

“That,” Naruto huffs. “Might be...the best run...I’ve,” He swallows. “Ever gone on.” 

Sasuke has his hands on his hips, and his head is thrown back as he tries to catch his breath. 

“Same.” 

It might have been the best run ever, but Naruto is in a shit ton of pain as he bends over, leaning on his knees for support. He takes his water jug out of his backpack and takes a few greedy gulps. Then, he offers it to Sasuke. 

Sasuke glances at it, and then meets Naruto’s eyes. 

Naruto shrugs, still panting. 

So Sasuke removes the lid and chugs from the rim. 

“We made it in nineteen minutes and fifty six seconds,” Naruto says as they enter the building. The air conditioning is a welcome feeling over his hot skin. 

Sasuke doesn’t say anything, but he’s smirking proudly as Naruto scans his membership card. 

“You didn’t have to pay for a daily pass?” Sasuke asks as they move into the main hallway. 

“Wow, you know something about the outside world?” Naruto retorts. 

At Sasuke’s soon-becoming-familiar glare, Naruto chuckles. 

“You’re allowed three guests a year, or something like that. I never have any, so I’m off the hook for two more times.” 

“Oh.” 

As Naruto unlocks his locker, a thought strikes him. 

“Since we got here earlier than usual, I think there might be time to wash your clothes. Just put it on small load, and it’ll be done within the half hour.” 

Sasuke looks a little unprepared for that, but nods unsteadily. 

Naruto snorts. “Right. I forgot you don’t know how to do things.”

Sasuke huffs in indignitation, but Naruto just hands him a five dollar bill. 

“Go back to the front and ask for change in quarters. Tell them you forgot your pass inside, and they’ll let you back in. Then go down the hall, the washers are on the first door to the left from here. Also,” Naruto digs through his backpack for his sweater, and tosses it at Sasuke, who catches it. “Wear that and the shorts while your clothes are washing. Come take a shower, whatever.” 

Sasuke nods, even if he seems slightly overwhelmed. 

Naruto holds in more laughter. “I’ll hurry up so you can use my shampoo and body wash.” 

Sasuke opens his mouth, like he’s going to say something. But he snaps it shut again and exits. 

Naruto rolls his eyes, grinning, then gets in an empty stall. 

When he gets out of the shower and changes into his Target uniform, Sasuke comes back into the locker rooms, holding his head up high. 

“Did you figure it out?” Naruto smirks. 

“I did, in fact. Here.” Sasuke drops the leftover coins in Naruto’s palm. 

“I’ll hold them for now, but you’re going to have to put the clothes in the dryer. How many minutes did it say?” 

Sasuke gives him a baffled look. “I don’t  _ know _ .” 

Naruto groans, resisting the umpteenth grin of the day. 

“Tsk tsk, Sasuke. How did you make it this far in the world?” 

“With maids,” Sasuke replies stiffly. 

Naruto laughs at that, but doesn’t doubt for a second that Sasuke is series. 

“I’ll go watch it for you, you big baby. You take a shower.” He motions behind him to his shampoo and body wash. 

Sasuke goes to grab it, scowling, and then wrinkles his nose up. 

“This is girly smelling stuff.” 

Naruto flushes. 

“It’s good for the planet, okay? Bastard,” He mutters. 

Sasuke gives him a tepid look that reminds Naruto of Shikamaru for some reason. 

“I’ll go now. Suffer without a towel.” 

Sasuke makes a noise, like he’s going to ask Naruto to find a towel for him, but Naruto gives into the pettiness of leaving Sasuke stranded. 

Upon arriving to the laundry room, Naruto grabs a seat and waits for the washer to finish. 

It’s only 8:23, which is so much earlier than Naruto has ever been out of the shower at the Y. He thinks maybe he’s been slacking this past summer, and that he should up his running pace. 

Speaking of, he already feels sore in his thighs as he stands a few minutes later to transfer the clothes to a dryer. 

Sasuke enters five minutes into the dryer cycle, Naruto’s things with him. 

“Hey.” 

“Hi.” 

Sasuke takes a seat beside Naruto, setting the bags at his feet. 

“You smell like a field of flowers,” Naruto jokes, nudging Sasuke. 

He turns pink, sitting lower in his seat, crossing his arms, and looks away. 

Naruto laughs to himself for a few moments. 

The laundry room is quiet except for the whirring of the dryer. 

“School starts next Monday,” Naruto says conversationally. 

“Really?” Sasuke sounds surprised, like he forgot school existed. 

Naruto wishes it didn’t. 

“Yeah,” He folds his hands behind his head, leaning back more. “It kinda sucks, but at least it’s my last year. What was graduation like for you?” He turns to face Sasuke. 

“I went to school online,” Sasuke says under his breath, eyes trained on the wall ahead of him. “My diploma was emailed to me.” 

Naruto frowns at the sad tone of voice. 

Graduating high school without having to go to the stuffy ceremony in itchy, hot clothes? Sounds fantastic to him. 

But the more he thinks about it, the more it sounds lonely. If Sasuke had been homeschooled all his life, that meant he most likely didn’t have many friends. Possibly not any. 

His life had probably been planned out for him, Naruto realises. Why else would he be so clueless about things? He probably kept the same routines that he never strayed from, living everyday the same. Never knowing more than the small world that was handed to him.

At least Naruto had a plan that he was happy with. 

He feels sad for Sasuke, but also angry. It didn’t seem fair. No wonder he’d run away. 

“Still,” Sasuke adds, facing Naruto. “I got to graduate early.” 

Naruto exhales, trying to focus on more light hearted things. 

“How early?” 

“Five years.” 

Naruto chokes on air. 

“What?” He whips around to face Sasuke, eyes wide. The bastard is smirking in his seat. 

“I was practically a prodigy, anyways. It was a given I’d graduate early. Either way, online school is different than regular school. You go at your own pace.” 

Naruto feels his eye twitch in annoyance. “Which, for you, was five years faster than everyone else.” 

Sasuke hums, like he’s going to leave it at that, without grovelling in his pride. Then he grins sadistically. 

“Yeah.” 

—

Naruto gets to work late, thanks to Sasuke’s clothing. 

“So what are you going to do all day?” He asks Sasuke as they get out of the taxi and start heading towards Target. 

“Wander around the store,” Sasuke says. “Go for a walk if I get bored.” 

Naruto hums in confirmation. “Okay. We’re going to get breakfast really quick.” 

Sasuke follows him to the break room, where Kakashi sits in the office. 

“Hey. Sorry I’m late,” Naruto collects the milk and cereal as quickly as possible. 

_ Maybe _ , he thinks,  _ if I’m quick enough, Kakashi won’t ask too many questions, and— _

“Who’s that?” Kakashi asks, right off the bat. 

Sasuke’s gaze flits to Naruto’s, expression back to that steely calm. 

Naruto appreciates that Sasuke is letting him to do all the talking. God knows what Sasuke would come up with if Naruto let him say anything. 

He chuckles forcefully. 

“Him? Oh, he’s just a friend. I’m watching over him for the day, since he’s new to town.” 

Kakashi swivels in his chair, crossing his arms. He doesn’t look convinced. 

“I see. He’s technically not allowed back here, though.” 

“He’s cool!” Naruto insists, grabbing two spoons and shoving a bowl into Sasuke’s hands, motioning for him to sit. “Won’t spill our Target employee secrets,” He laughs again, sitting down beside Sasuke. 

Kakashi doesn’t say anything for a moment, but he looks very unimpressed. 

Sasuke, for the most part, looks laid back about the situation. He eats his cereal in silence, even though Naruto can tell by the scrunch of his nose that cereal is new to him. 

_ Goddamn, dude. What have you been doing with your life?  _

“What’s he going to do all day?” Kakashi pipes, just as Naruto thinks he might go back to work. 

Naruto shrugs. “Hang out? Get a coffee? Whatever he wants.” 

Sasuke glances at Naruto from the corner of his eyes, but Naruto ignores him. 

Kakashi sighs, long and exasperatedly. Then, he swivels again and looks down at his work. 

Naruto breaths in relief. 

“I’m docking an hour of your pay.” 

“What! No! Why?” Naruto drops his spoon, and it clatters against the bowl in outrage. 

“Because you were late, and because you apparently thought it was bring your friend to work day.” Kakashi doesn’t even look up—he just continues scribbling on his papers. 

Naruto lets out a drawn out whine, spooning more cereal into his mouth. 

Sasuke makes a throaty noise. Another one of those almost laughs. 

Naruto forgets how savage his manager can be at times. 

He’s yet to find out just how cruel Sasuke’s humour is. 

  
  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Man, what’s up with Sasuke? What’s his backstory? 
> 
> Hope you enjoyed! I’m unsure as to how frequent my updates will be, but all the same, I’m going strong at the moment. Stay tuned.


	3. Confessions

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A few secrets are unfolded.

Naruto uses the first three hours of his shift to think over the entire Sasuke Situation. He’s pretty bored on cashiers anyways, since rush hour is always sometime after noon. 

He concludes pretty quickly that it wasn’t a complete mistake helping someone in need. Sasuke had needed a hand, and Naruto just wasn’t the type of person to willingly watch a person suffer alone, since he sort of knew how that felt. It would have weighed him down too much. 

He does decide, though, that offering his help for days on end wasn’t as good, even if it was morally positive. 

As much as he wishes he could afford to help Sasuke and, honestly, every other homeless person who needed to be guided, he just  _ couldn’t _ . Not if he wanted to get out of San Jose by the time he graduated. Naruto has a  _ plan _ , damn it, and he was going to follow through with it. He was going to get his car and make himself a nice travel-home. He was going to drive all the way to Florida, or something crazy like that, just to get away from this place. This town that had brought him misfortune and hatred his entire life. 

Naruto had been burdened with bullies since the day his mom had died. Bullies that told him he wasn’t good enough, that he was a waste of space, that  _ he’d _ been the cause of his mother’s death. They come in all different forms—his aunts and uncles, the people he went to school with. Naruto was unwanted in this town, and after seventeen years, he was ready to accept that and  _ move on _ . 

Florida would be his fresh start.  _ Far away  _ would be his first chance at a clean slate. 

Even if it means he has to be the tiniest bit cruel to someone. 

Naruto deserves happiness. After everything, the universe owes him one. 

He manages to ease his guilty conscience by promising himself that he’ll send Sasuke off with a hundred dollars or so. Just something to hold him off, so he doesn’t starve or anything. Then eases it further by reminding himself that Sasuke is kind of a jerk either way. 

Lunch comes far too soon, and he walks at a leisurely pace in his search for Sasuke. 

Despite his utter surety of sending Sasuke on his way, his morality is going to town on the guilting. His stomach feels all woozy; he feels like he might vomit. 

_ C’mon, man _ , He thinks to himself as he passes through the electronic section.  _ You haven’t even known Sasuke that long. Woman up.  _

Naruto happens upon Sasuke in the ramen aisle, which is a complete surprise. 

“Sasuke?” 

He turns at his name, hair swishing. 

“Oh, Naruto,” Sasuke gives him a bland wave. “Kakashi said to get the pork flavour,” On cue, he tosses a packet of noodles, which Naruto hurriedly catches. Before he can ask any questions, Sasuke continues. “The idea of instant noodles is pretty gross. But I suppose you’re paying, so.” He grabs a chicken maruchan, which is only twenty nine cents. 

Naruto opens his mouth to speak, but his lips only manage to twitch like he’s a fish out of water. 

_ Kakashi said? _

Sasuke doesn’t say anything, but he brushes past Naruto, heading in the direction of the registers. 

Naruto snaps himself out of it, whirling around and chasing after Sasuke. 

“Hold up a minute,” Naruto demands, grabbing hold of Sasuke’s forearm go stop him. 

Sasuke turns, sighing. “An entire minute?” He tugs at his arm. “Let go.” 

Naruto huffs, letting go. 

“You’ve talked to Kakashi?” 

Sasuke shrugs. “Yeah. So?” 

“Why?” 

“To get a job, duh.” 

Naruto tries to hide the way he’s blindsided by the words, but he doesn’t think it works in his favour, because Sasuke lets out an amused chuff. 

“You...got a job?” 

Sasuke nods. 

“...here?” 

“Yes.” 

Naruto is quiet for a moment, processing it. 

Sasuke working at Target. At  _ his _ Target. The one  _ he _ works at. 

“ _ Why _ ?” 

“Is that your favourite word today?” Sasuke actually laughs this time, with some starkiness, and turns back around to begin walking again. “C’mon.” He calls over his shoulder. 

Naruto follows behind mutely, ramen in hand, waiting for Sasuke to explain. It takes a moment, but then he does. 

“I’d actually already made plans to go all the way to Los Angeles,” Sasuke’s voice quiet and carefully emotionless. “To the Covenant House.” 

“Oh! I thought you said that wasn’t for you?” Naruto questions, cocking his head to the side as he hurries his pace a little. 

“I talked myself out of it. By the time I’d made it to San Jose, I changed my mind. I started thinking about what I was going to do, and resolved to somehow find a job.” 

They arrive at the front and go down Shino’s aisle, which is free of any customers at all. Naruto digs a dollar out of his pocket to pay for their food, and Shino rings them up quickly. 

They begin towards the break room, and Sasuke continues. 

“Then you offered to feed me. Which, you know, I would’ve been  _ fine _ without.” 

Naruto laughs, which earns him a hard glare. 

“The point.” Sasuke says it like he’s reminding himself of something, reaching up to run a hand through his hair. “The  _ point _ is that I’m not okay with being in debt, so I needed to get a job and pay you back,” He takes a deep breath, obviously uncomfortable suddenly. He taps his fingers on his ramen packet. “I figured I’d get a job here, so that it would be easier to commute. Because—well.” 

_ Is he embarrassed?  _ Naruto lifts an eyebrow at the pink faced Sasuke. He seems almost sheepish, with his eyes darting everywhere but Naruto’s. 

“Kakashi gave us the same hours.” Sasuke motions vaguely. He glances over at Naruto, like he expects him to understand something. 

Naruto just blinks back in confusion. 

Sasuke groans, grumbling under his breath. “So that it would be easier. If, say, we came in to work together and left work together.” He offers another pointed gesture. 

It clicks in Naruto’s mind. 

“Are you asking if you can still live with me?” It sounds odd saying  _ live _ , when Naruto basically just loiters on government owned property, but it’s the only non-confusing way to phrase it. 

Sasuke turns away, looking indifferent, but his cheeks are still pink. 

Naruto grins suddenly, reaching up to scratch at his neck. 

It was sort of endearing how terrible Sasuke was at asking for anything. So endearing it was insanely annoying.

But Naruto ignores that part of it. 

“You’re such an asshole,” Naruto says, taking a deep breath and placing his hands on his hips like a disappointed mother. 

Sasuke’s eyebrow twitches, but he doesn’t deny it. His eyes glide to the ground. 

“But,” Naruto continues, also looking at the ground to tap the toe of his shoe on the tile. “I mean, if you can pay for yourself...I wouldn’t mind having a roommate.” 

“We don’t even  _ have _ a room.” Sasuke mutters back quickly, almost desperately. Naruto hears the edge of relief in his voice, though, and remembers how emotionally stunted Sasuke is. 

The moment turns sort of awkward, since there are so many new emotions floating around. They’re both hovering outside of the break room door, not meeting each other’s eyes. 

Naruto breaks the tension with a vaguely comical phrase, because that’s what he does. 

“The  _ world _ is our room, dude.” He tells him, and then pushes the door to the break room open. 

Kakashi and Iruka are both sitting at a table, eating lunch. Their eyes drift over as Sasuke and Naruto enter. 

Naruto heads straight for the cupboard, grabbing a pot and filling it with water. By now, he doesn’t even have to measure. Guesstimation works just fine. 

He turns the stove on and places the pot on. 

“How are you today, Naruto?” Iruka sends Naruto a warm smile, as was in his nature. 

“I’m  _ great _ ,” Naruto replies, still semi-high off of the oddness of he and Sasuke’s conversation. It had left him sort of dazed. 

“Good,” Kakashi says. He turns in his seat with a sort of amused look. “I assume Sasuke has told you that he’s going to be working here starting Monday?” 

“He has. I just can’t believe you hired him so quickly.” Naruto gives a pointed look, recalling how difficult it had been to land his spot at Target. 

Kakashi smiles warily, and Naruto thinks he sees him sweating a little. “Well,” He chuckles. “With all the kids going back to school and reducing their hours, it’s easy to give jobs out.” 

Naruto has a comeback comment prepared, but is cut off. 

“Plus, he did really well in his interview.” Iruka says around a mouthful of spaghetti. “Was a lot more practical and calm. Unlike you, I should say.” He winks. 

Naruto glances over at Sasuke speculatively, eyes squinted. “ _ Three hours _ and you managed to get a job  _ and _ convince my bosses that I’m beneath you?” 

Sasuke shrugs, eyes on the steaming water on the stove. He looks too distracted by the miracle of cooking to make comments that are too cocky. 

“Guess I’m just a natural.” 

“All he did was walk in and ask for a job,” Kakashi says, sounding impressed. “Iruka agreed to interview him immediately.” 

“I’m sure,” Naruto deadpans, meeting Iruka’s eyes. 

Naruto highly doubts Iruka had only asked Sasuke questions strictly related to work. 

Iruka just lifts his hands up in surrender, smiling innocently. 

“Kakashi and I wanted to find out who exactly Sasuke was anyways. It was convenient!” 

“ _ Convenient _ ,” Naruto grumbles. “You could have just asked me!” 

“And how well that would have gone. Unlike Sasuke, you wouldn’t have said anything.” Kakashi mutters. 

Naruto huffs, turning around to put his ramen to cook in the now boiling water and resisting the urge to glare at Sasuke(who is watching him make the food with overly alert eyes).

He supposes it doesn’t matter if Iruka and Kakashi know about Sasuke. So what? They already know about Naruto. They’re the  _ only _ ones the workplace who know about his living situation. 

To them, this was probably Christmas. They were always doting on Naruto like parents, asking if he was eating enough, or if he’d been safe last night. To them, Sasuke was probably a guardian in disguise. Someone to watch over him and help him out a little. 

He doesn’t really understand why they’re so worried in the first place. After all, they’re his managers. Not his family. 

They were probably just worried about who would deal with all the Karen’s if Naruto miraculously died on the streets. 

—

Naruto gives Sasuke ten bucks to purchase their dinner. He tells him to get something cheap for both of them, since Naruto still technically needs to pay for both of them until Sasuke gets his first paycheck. 

Today, Naruto thinks he might go by and visit Sai. Not for any particular reason. Just because he has nothing special to do, and it means he won’t have to make small talk all evening with Sasuke. Though he thinks a night like that will come around eventually. 

Sasuke had spent all day in the store, wandering around and looking at things. He seems so interested by most things. He’d spent hours in the clothing section. Naruto had even caught him napping under a gazebo in a lawn chair at one point, a pair of shades thrown over his eyes. Though, when approached and poked, Sasuke just calmly said, “Occupied.” 

He really was such a bastard. 

At the end of Naruto’s shift, he finds Sasuke in the break room with Iruka, two warmed up frozen dinners in front of him. Some sort of risotto, by the looks of it. 

Sasuke turns at his arrival, pushing one of the plastic containers in the direction of the empty chair. “Kakashi told me you usually get salads, but—” 

Naruto sits, huffing. 

“Kakashi just tells you everything, didn’t he?” 

Iruka chuckles. 

“It’s fine,” Naruto decides, when he realises Sasuke hadn’t spent all of the ten dollars. 

They eat dinner with the company of Iruka—things like what he’d done yesterday, what he was doing tomorrow, and a few questions pointed in Sasuke’s direction. 

Naruto sits in relative silence, merely observing the two before him. 

He already knows Iruka, with his overly warm smiles and oddly firm voice. Iruka was the epitome of  _ college professor _ , with countless oddly hilarious stories and deep life lessons. At the end of the day, Naruto assigns dad vibes to him and leaves it at that. 

Sasuke was, obviously, new and different. He wasn’t loud, or shy, or even overly sarcastic. He was perfectly conversational, while still seeming at ease, and spoke clearly without much underlying meaning. What was the most odd was probably the way Sasuke sat, which sounds delusional when Naruto thinks it. But it really isn’t natural, the straightness of his back and the carefully placed arms, so that his elbows never touch the table. 

Who stuck that stick up your ass? Naruto thinks as he chews the last bit of mushroom risotto. 

“I’ll see you on Monday, then,” Sasuke says, voice level as he offers his hand for Iruka to shake. 

It’s so overly formal that Naruto barely contains a spluttering laugh.

Iruka releases a surprised chuckle, but disguises it by clearing his throat when Sasuke continues to look dead serious. He shakes Sasuke’s hand. 

Naruto lets Sasuke hold his duffel bag again, and leads them both to the men’s clothing section. 

“Pick out an outfit or two,” Naruto says. 

Sasuke looks vaguely surprised for a moment, but then nods when Naruto gives him a reassuring hum. He sorts through the same things that Naruto had seen him looking at earlier today. 

Naruto doesn’t plan on spending too much this week, but with the added security of knowing he’ll be paid back in full, he doesn’t have to think twice about it. 

They end up leaving with a new backpack for Sasuke, where he carries two casual outfits and a work out ensemble, plus a snack or two for them and Sai.

“Why are you so formal?” Naruto asks bluntly as they walk leisurely towards Meadowfair. 

Sasuke presses his eyebrows together, wrinkles forming between them. 

“Excuse me?” 

Naruto snorts at his almost offended tone. “Dude, I’m just saying. You shook Iruka’s hand and were basically like,  _ ‘I shall see you on Monday, once the sun has risen on the horizon. _ ’ You sounded like you were reading a eulogy.” 

“I wish I was reading yours,” Sasuke offers. 

“Bro!” Naruto scoffs, jabbing at Sasuke's side with his elbow, and it feels so weirdly natural. 

Sasuke smirks for a second, but then it bleeds away. 

“Was it too much?” His voice is quiet, like it got back at Wendy’s last night. 

Naruto denies it for Sasuke’s sake, even if it might be a little true. He implies that it was charming, because why not? 

It would be interesting to watch either way, if Sasuke remains all official. He can already imagine the jokes his coworkers would make. 

Sasuke just nods solemnly like the serious weirdo he is. 

It’s on the warmer side today, with the sun making a dull appearance. There’s no breeze, no clouds, and no humidity(fortunately). 

When they get to Meadowfair, they find the place to be understandably crowded. There are kids running all over the place, laughing and screaming. 

“Why are we here again?” Sasuke mutters under his breath. 

“To visit a friend.” Naruto replies briskly, marching over to the same corner of the park he’d found Sai in the last time. 

To his surprise, he comes upon him sooner than expected. Sai is walking towards them, art bag over his shoulder. 

When he spots Naruto, his face contorts into slight surprise, but then he lifts a hand in greeting. 

“Naruto. Hello.” 

“Hey, Sai. You leaving?” 

“Yes, I’ve decided to leave because it’s crowded. I’m not a fan of crowds.” Sai’s eyes flit over to Sasuke, and he points. “Who’s this?” 

Naruto grins, slapping a hand down on Sasuke’s shoulder. 

“This is Sasuke Uchiha! He’s a new friend. Basically,” Naruto adds the last part hesitantly as Sasuke sends him a stuffy look, eyes squinted. 

“I can introduce myself,” Sasuke grumbles, then looks to Sai. “We’re roommates of sorts.” He offers a hand. 

Sai shakes it. 

“Oh, I see.” 

“Oh!” Naruto lifts a finger, suddenly remembering something. “I forgot—we planned to spend a bit of time here, so we brought snacks.” He turns to unzip Sasuke’s bag. 

Sasuke makes an offended noise as Naruto rifles through, but only makes half-hearted attempts at jostling him off. 

“Here’s the snack we brought for you.” Naruto offers a tangerine, throwing a peace sign at Sai as well. 

Sai smiles, taking it. 

“Thank you. I will enjoy it.” 

Sasuke takes his backpack off to zip it back up himself, as Naruto doesn’t turn to do it. 

“If you still want to hang out, I’ll be back tomorrow around noon.” Sai punctures the skin of the fruit, beginning to peel it away. “I’ll have a friend or two with me, so it will be fun.” He holds a thumbs up momentarily. 

Naruto hums eagerly. “Sounds good, bro! We’ll definitely be here.” 

“Okay,” Sai waves one last time. “See you, then.” 

They watch Sai walk off, Naruto waving enthusiastically while Sasuke only sighs deeply.

“I’m tired,” He says suddenly. 

“It’s barely six.” Naruto scowls back, glancing down at his watch. 

“Let’s find somewhere to sit down.” 

Sasuke is walking off before Naruto can respond. 

—

Before he knows it, Naruto is waking up inside the Meadowfair Park bathrooms, and Sasuke is already brushing his teeth when his eyes crack open. 

“Good morning.” Sasuke says, muffled by the toothbrush. 

Naruto yawns, sitting up as he rubs his eyes. 

What time was it? A glance at his watch tells him it’s well past nine in the morning—which is perfect for a weekend. 

Yesterday...even though he had been chary of spending more time with Sasuke(especially now that he knew they were going to be spending a  _ lot _ of time together), their first evening as roomies had been pleasant. They’d watched the kids play on the playground and just talked. 

It must have been for almost three hours straight, Naruto realises as he stands up, stretching. Three hours of casual conversation—and it had been about nothing, really. Banal things that barely filled the silence, like favourite colours and past relationships. But the conversation had flowed nonetheless, easy and with barely any bumps. 

Sasuke’s favourite colour was black, and he’d never had a significant other. Figures. 

Yet, as Naruto thought about the stupid things they’d bickered over and discussed, he comes to the conclusion that it had been  _ fun _ . 

“Mornin’, amigo.” He finally returns, smiling. 

“Do you speak spanish? Or are you just being extra?” Sasuke raises an eyebrow after he rinses his mouth out, moving away to let Naruto brush his teeth. 

“You don’t know this about me yet, but I’m always pretty extra.” Naruto flashes a grin at Sasuke’s unimpressed huff. 

“It isn’t very hard to tell, actually.” 

“ _ Anyways _ ,” Naruto cuts in defensively, much to Sasuke’s apparent amusement. “My teachers will tell you I fail at the art of speaking Spanish, but I just really suck at tests. And oral presentations.”

Sasuke snorts. 

“Figures you’re one of those people who talks everyone’s ears off in public, but can’t say a few words in front of the class.” 

Naruto squeezes toothpaste onto his toothbrush before running it under the faucet and stuffing it into his mouth. 

“Oh, I can talk in front of the class. I just always manage to get off topic.” 

Sasuke shakes his head, smiling just a little. 

“Don’t talk with your mouth full.” 

“Okay,  _ mom _ ,” Naruto retorts, turning back to his reflection. 

When Naruto has washed his face, he cleans up and packs his things away in his emptier-than-usual backpack. 

“You don’t run on Sunday’s?” Sasuke asks as he slips his backpack on.

“Break day!” Naruto clarifies. 

They exit with their things, and Naruto immediately begins in the direction of Target. 

“Do you ever eat anywhere else but Target?” Sasuke asks, because most of the things they say to each other at all are in the form of questions at the moment. It’s almost like a game, at how entertaining it is, learning this and that about each other. 

At work, Naruto is never the one asking questions. His coworkers will make conversation, of course, and he knows a little about each of them, but there’s never any deeper meaning. No desire to continue discovering until there’s nothing left to learn, or anything even remotely close. It was just the obligation to work together that made Naruto and his coworkers almost friends. 

With Sasuke, there was a reason to get to know one another. They were roommates. And roommates are buddies, because that’s just how it ought to be. 

Plus, Naruto just wants to know things about Sasuke. Stupid things, like if he likes wasabi, or what his guilty pleasures are. 

And he’s never had that before. This deeper want to get to know someone else. 

It’s exhilarating. 

“I get twenty percent off most foods!” Naruto explains, shrugging. “It’s cheap and it’s convenient. What more could I ask for?” 

Sasuke mutters something under his breath, but Naruto pretends not to hear him. 

“I know instant ramen isn’t whatever vegan crap you were probably eating before, but at least it’s food.” Naruto presses his lips together, holding his head up to gaze at the sky.

“Okay, okay. I can tell you’re in love with ramen.” Sasuke gives him such a bland look that he can’t help by stick his tongue out in retaliation. 

It’s weird. So weird, how easy it is. 

“So,” Naruto changes the subject to inform Sasuke of their schedule. “We’re going to eat, hang around and bother my coworkers, then head back to Meadowfair.” 

Sasuke sighs. 

“ _ Back _ to Meadowfair? You should have just left me there and gotten the food by yourself.” 

Naruto rolls his eyes. 

“I can’t bring the milk, it’ll go bad.” 

“Cereal again?”

“I eat the same things most of the time. But don’t worry, meal plans change weekly. Next week it’s parfaits for breakfast, ramen for lunch, and tuna for dinner.” 

Sasuke gives an unsatisfied grunt, blowing air from purses lips. It’s close to a pout, which is so childish that Naruto laughs. 

“You aren’t allowed to complain while I’m paying for you, Uchiha. When you get your first paycheck you can buy your own food.” 

Sasuke sighs again, a sound of disdain. 

“Fair enough.” 

They arrive at Target within ten minutes, and head straight into the break room. 

It’s empty, meaning that Iruka is probably out helping customers. 

“I was expecting what’s-his-face to be here,” Sasuke says, grabbing the milk from the fridge for Naruto. 

Naruto prepares the bowls of cereal and chuckles. 

“His name is Kakashi, and yeah. Iruka makes him actually work when they have the same shifts. Kakashi likes to stay in here all day and pretend he’s working on things. Which he isn’t.” 

They sit and chew in relative silence. 

Sasuke motions to the fruit loops in his bowl when Naruto is nearly finished. 

“These are really weird.” 

Naruto hums knowing that Sasuke hasn’t gotten to say anything yesterday, with Naruto’s rush. He brings his bowl up to drink the milk. 

“Good weird or bad weird?” 

“Too sweet,” Sasuke says. “And terrible texture.” 

Naruto takes a big gulp of air as he finishes chugging his milk, wiping at his mouth and grinning. 

“Why do I feel like you’d be a fan of raisin bran?” 

Sasuke cocks his head to the side like a confused puppy. 

Naruto laughs, patting Sasuke in the back. 

“You can try some next week. It’s not as sweet.” 

Naruto washes his dish, and watches over Sasuke as he washes his own. 

It’s amusing and sort of tragic how terrible Sasuke is at doing things. Of course, the more Naruto discovers Sasuke can’t do, the more questions he harbours. Who hasn’t washed at least one dish in their life? Who’s never had cereal? 

He may never find out, if Sasuke continues to be cryptic for as long as they’re “roommates.”

They exit together, footsteps falling in sync as they search for Iruka. “

“He usually helps out around the furniture stuff, since he considers himself good with decor.” Naruto explains to Sasuke. 

“And is he?” 

Naruto snorts. 

“Absolutely not.” 

When they don’t find Iruka around the chairs and beanbags, they circle around towards the outdoor things. It’s the second place Naruto thinks they might find him, since Iruka is a bit of an outdoors-y person. 

The two of them are just turning towards the farthest corner of the lawn section when Naruto catches sight of Iruka. 

Then, Kakashi approaching Iruka. 

He raises his hand, opening his mouth to call out, but Sasuke suddenly grabs his wrist and pulls him behind the end of the aisle, hiding them from view. 

“What the hell.” Naruto frowns at him. 

Sasuke’s eyes look sort of crazed, but he’s wearing an oddly entertained smirk. 

“Naruto, Iruka and Kakashi. They were making out.” 

Naruto’s eyes widen, his eyebrows flying up in surprise. He immediately attempts to peek around the corner, not having caught a glimpse, but Sasuke tugs him back. 

“You seriously saw them kissing?” Naruto whisper yells, throwing his hands him. His face is turning red, and he can feel the heat up his neck. 

Sasuke chuckles warily. 

“Um, yes. As we were walking, Kakashi leaned in and kissed him full on the lips. Iruka even put his arms around him.” 

He’s blushing now too, looking down as he explains what he saw. 

They stand in silence for a moment. 

Sasuke lets go of Naruto’s wrist suddenly, reminding both of them that he’d even been holding it. 

“I really wanna look,” Naruto whines. 

“Dude. Gross.” Sasuke makes a face. 

“You haven’t worked with them for a year, dude. The fact that they’re kissing—do you think they’re dating?” 

Sasuke shrugs. 

“Given that they’re adults, I’m guessing they haven’t been dating long. They’re probably in that weird phase.” 

Naruto groans. 

“Like the gross touchy feely phase?” 

“Yes. So we should leave.” 

Naruto brings his hands together, holding them up to his nose as he inhales. 

He thinks for a second that he might have the willpower to just let it go. It’s none of his business, really. If they’re dating, that’s fine. It has nothing to do with him. 

But, despite those thoughts, he brings his hands down sharply. 

“I have to.”

He turns on his heel, rounding the corner. 

“Iruka! Kakashi!” 

He hears Sasuke sighing irritably. 

As he calls, he watches his managers push each other away with impressive speed, putting space between them. Iruka wipes at his mouth, red all over. Kakashi brushes some hair out of his face. He looks less flustered, and his posture is relaxed in contrast to Iruka’s tense stance. 

“Oh!” Iruka says, voice high and squeaky. He smiles awkwardly. “Hello, Naruto!” 

“Yo,” Kakashi mutters. 

Iruka elbows him in the side. 

“Are you two dating?” Naruto asks bluntly, gesturing pointedly. 

Sasuke stands behind him, and grumbles something under his breath about privacy. 

Iruka and Kakashi make eye contact, seeming to share a silent conversation. Then, they walk down the aisle to breach the distance between them. 

Iruka places a hand on Naruto’s shoulder, face contorted in hesitance. 

“Yes, we are. I know it’s very unprofessional, since we’re your managers,” He looks genuinely apologetic, voice quiet. “But it’s never gotten in the way of our work.” 

“You were just making out in the back of an aisle like teenagers,” Sasuke points out, no mercy in the sharp rise of his eyebrow. 

Iruka clears his throat, blushing furiously. 

Kakashi chuckles. 

“I like you more and more everyday, Sasuke.” 

Iruka raises his hands, ignoring Kakashi. 

“Look. This was...obviously a mistake. We won’t do this again. Just don’t tell anyone, please?” He brings his hands together in a pleading manner. 

Naruto makes a hysterical sound in the back of his throat. 

“I just found out that my managers are dating, and you don’t want me to tell the others? Do you  _ know _ how long we’ve all thought you two were together?” Naruto spreads his hands in clear confusion and exasperation. 

“Yes. That’s why we didn’t tell anyone.” Kakashi confirms. 

“Why are you so calm about this?” Iruka demands suddenly, reaching out to smack the side of Kakashi’s head. 

Kakashi reaches up to guard his head with his arms, squawking in offence. 

“It’s just  _ Naruto _ ,” Kakashi insists, motioning. 

“And Sasuke!”

“I don’t really care, so you don’t have to worry about me telling people.” Sasuke clicks his tongue, crossing his arms. 

“Yeah,” Naruto agrees. His initial shock is beginning to die down, and now he just feels weirdly ecstatic. “I guess I won’t tell anyone. But jeez, don’t make out at work. Ew.” 

Iruka pinches the bridge of his nose, but then takes a deep breath. The crease between his eyebrows smooths over, and he smiles a little. 

“Okay. Good. Sorry you had to see that.” 

Kakashi huffs a laugh, draping an arm around Iruka’s shoulders casually. 

Naruto sighs dramatically, clutching his chest. 

“You two! I can’t believe it! How long have you been dating?” 

“A while.” Kakashi says, vague as ever. 

Iruka huffs. 

“A little over a year, actually.” 

Naruto gawks at the words. A little over a year means that they’ve been dating longer than he’s worked here, which is  _ insane _ . And completely contradictory to he and Sasuke’s initial theory. 

“Invite me to the wedding?” Naruto grins, rubbing the back of his neck as Iruka blushes again. 

“Sure,” Kakashi grins, much to Iruka’s chagrin. 

Suddenly, he chirps. 

“I just remembered I have something for you!” Iruka reaches into his internal coat pocket and digs out a bright red object. He extends it, smiling warily. “Since we robbed you.” 

It’s a Kit Kat bar. An extra large one, which is double the size of the one Naruto had shared yesterday. 

“Oh,” He says dumbly, barely remembering the incident. “Thanks, I guess. You didn’t have to buy me anything.” He goes to take it, but Iruka’s next words stop him. 

“I just felt bad about it. We sort of forced you,” Iruka laughs. 

He exhales, letting his hand drop. 

“This isn’t because of my situation, is it?” He mumbles, quiet enough that he’s sure for a moment that Iruka hasn’t heard him. 

That’s the one thing he’s always hated. The pity he’d always received when he shares his living situation. And that is exactly why he usually doesn’t share it at all, nowadays. 

But then there’s a hand on his shoulder. 

“If you don’t take it, it’s over a dollar that he wasted,” Kakashi’s voice is flat, a very no-funny-business tone. He shrugs. “I don’t like chocolate. And Iruka can’t eat all of that by himself.” 

Naruto hears what his manager is trying to say, even though he usually sucks at reading in between the lines. And judging by the looks Iruka and Kakashi are giving him, they don’t expect him to understand the underlying meaning of what’s being said. But he  _ does _ . 

Naruto just huffs, because it’s easier to feign ignorance and ignore the syrupy, warm, honey feeling in his stomach at his stupidly caring managers. 

“I guess if I don’t take it, you’ll give it to Chouji. I can’t let that happen, can I?” 

Iruka smiles again, this time more relaxed. “Absolutely not.” 

They leave after that, but not without another promise to keep their relationship a secret. 

As they walk towards the entrance, Naruto tears open the package and begins breaking off pieces for he and Sasuke to share. 

“It’s so weird that they’re dating,” Naruto mumbles around his chocolate. 

“Why? Didn’t you say that you thought it was happening already?” Sasuke is completely untainted by this mornings discovery as he chews his second Kit Kat(he seems to like the candy more than Naruto would have thought).

“Well, yeah,” He admits. “But it’s different when you  _ think _ it’s happening and when you  _ know _ it’s happening.” 

Sasuke just rolls his eyes. 

He won’t admit it out loud, of course, but Iruka and Kakashi have sort of become...guardian figures to him. Not to an extreme amount, or anything. It’s just hard not to see them in that light when they were a) the only ones who knew he was homeless, b) sometimes brought him delicious leftovers to eat for lunch, and c) never stopped pestering him with questions.  _ Where are you sleeping tonight?  _ this, and  _ how’s your savings going? _ that. It was a never ending thing, those two. Like two persistent flies, buzzing around his head. 

Now that they were dating, and it was confirmed, it just felt weird. He couldn’t put it into words, even in his own head. 

“What was that whole thing about, anyways?” Sasuke questions, reaching over to snap another piece of chocolate off. 

“Hm?” Naruto pulls himself from his thoughts. 

“About the apparent Kit Kat robbery?” 

He chuckles. 

“Oh. A day ago, I bought a Kit Kat, and then Iruka and a couple other coworkers demanded I share with them. Guess he felt bad about it,” Naruto purses his lips as he wraps the rest of the Kit Kat and slips it into his backpack. 

Sasuke is silent. 

Naruto looks up at the sky when they halt at a stop light. It’s clear and cornflower blue. The sun is hot on his skin, and it’s kind of humid, but the wind is blowing enough to take the edge off. 

“Thanks.” Sasuke snaps suddenly, and it sounds harsh more than anything. 

Naruto blinks at him blankly. 

Sasuke takes a deep breath, face a rosy colour. His eyebrows are furrowed. He’s looking at the ground again. “Thank you. For helping me out. Even though I know I’m kind of an ass.” 

Naruto can’t help it when he beams immediately, warmth pooling in his stomach for the second time today. 

“Don’t even mention it, Sasuke.” 

He means it. 

They begin slipping into their banal conversations again as Naruto leads them around town until it was time to go to Meadowfair. There isn’t much else to do anyways, and he doesn’t feel much like sitting around. 

Sasuke is good enough at conversation, though he mostly listens to Naruto ramble on about school or work. It’s just in his nature, Naruto realises. The strong and silent type. 

The entire time, he gets no additional personal information out of Sasuke. 

Except that his favourite food is tomatoes.

—

Noon rolls around quicker than either of them anticipate, and before they know it they’re late. 

It’s mostly(or completely)because Naruto had insisted they stop by the mall to look around. But Sasuke was the one who had taken so long. 

The stop was supposed to be fun, but Sasuke had ended up dragging him all around the clothing sections of every store to examine things, making odd comments like “The stitching on this is terrible. Would fall apart in a few months.” At one point, he’d even grabbed a pair of shades that he’d claimed were very nice, and worn them the entire time they were in the store. 

By the time Naruto is drawn from his zombie-like state by glancing at his watch, he realises its already fifteen minutes past twelve. 

He manages to pull Sasuke away from the racks of clothing(and make him put the glasses back), insisting that they needed to get to the park to meet Sai. 

When they finally, finally make it to the park, it’s already 12:37. 

“Sai!” Naruto waves his hands above his head as he and Sasuke jog across the field to a familiar secluded corner. 

Sai glances up from his criss cross position on the grass, then smiles and waves. Around him are two girls, both sitting to the left of him. One is on her phone, and the other looks up and meets Naruto’s eyes. 

“Sakura?” He asks, voice shrill with surprise. Of all people, he wasn’t expecting Sakura Haruno to be friends with Sai. “And Ino? What the hell?” 

Sasuke frowns to his right. “You know them?” 

“Work friends,” Naruto mumbles, then realises that Sasuke will  _ also _ become a work friend tomorrow. “Oh, right! This is Sakura and Ino.” 

Sasuke offers a curt wave, saving Naruto the embarrassment that a handshake would have given him. 

“I’m Sasuke.” 

“Nice to meet you!” Sakura greets cheerily, tucking a strand of hair behind her ear. 

“Didn’t know Naruto had friends outside of work,” Ino says under her breath, smirking. 

Naruto glares at her, but quickly adorns a smirk of his own. 

He turns to Sasuke. “They only work on Tuesdays and Thursdays because they’re rich girls with nothing to do.” 

He knows the real reason that they work—to spend time together. It’s just that  _ they _ don’t know it, and who was Naruto to expose either of them like that? 

Either way, it makes Ino and Sakura both flare with anger, which amuses Naruto for a moment. Until Sakura smacks Naruto’s leg. 

“Rude!” He exclaims, bending over to cradle his burning calf.

“Because you were also rude.” Sasuke comments, giving Naruto a glare. 

Naruto doesn’t know how to reply, taken aback by the rise he’d gotten out of Sasuke.

“I didn’t know you worked with Sakura and Ino,” Sai says, frowning thoughtfully, completely ignorant of the anger around him. He turns to Sakura. “Is he Stupid?” He says it like it’s a name, not an adjective. 

Sakura raises her eyebrows smugly at Naruto, crossing her arms. 

“Yes, Sai. Naruto is Stupid.” 

Naruto is tempted to make some comment or another, but Sasuke flops down unceremoniously on the blanket that Sai, Sakura, and Ino sit on. 

“You’re having a picnic?” Sasuke motions to the little cooler that sits behind Ino. 

“Yup,” Ino smiles. “We were just waiting for you two to show up. Almost ate without you, to be honest.” 

“It’s Naruto’s fault.” Sasuke deadpans, leaving Naruto not even a twinge of dignity. 

It  _ wasn’t _ his fault. It was Sasuke’s, for inspecting every piece of clothing like it was enigma itself. 

But he can’t say that out loud, or he’ll sound like an idiot. 

“Okay, jesus. Today isn’t attack-Naruto-until-he-has-a-mental-breakdown day.” Despite his cold tone, he plops beside Sasuke with his legs loosely crossed, refusing to meet anyone’s eyes. 

Sakura snorts, Ino full on laughs, and Sai chuckles. Even Sasuke shakes his head in amusement. 

The conversation flows away from Naruto then, much to his relief, and Ino pulls out lunch. Turkey and tomato sandwiches, homemade chips(according to Sakura, who claims she made them; they’re too tasty to be her cooking), and even capri-suns. 

Naruto gives Sasuke his tomatoes. They share a grin. 

Needless to say, everyone bombards Sasuke with questions about his life. And to Naruto’s surprise, Sasuke is extremely good at answering anything they throw at him while remaining extremely vague. 

“How old are you?” Sakura asks. 

“Nineteen.” 

“Then do you go to college?” 

“Not my thing.” 

“So that’s why you’re working at Target, then?” 

“You could say that.” 

Sakura doesn’t look very happy by the end of their conversation. 

Sai and Naruto don’t attempt conversation, and watch over as the continue eating. It’s almost like a TV drama. 

Ino tries next. 

“Do you have any siblings?” 

Sasuke pauses at this, for a single second. 

“A brother.” 

“Does he live in San Jose?” 

“No.” 

“Oh. Are you not from San Jose?” 

“No.” 

“Where, then?” 

“Sacramento.” 

Ino laughs politely. “I have an aunt who lives up there.” 

There’s no reply from Sasuke. 

After that, they don’t ask him any more questions. They even go as far as to slide him an extra sandwich like a peace offering. He eats it happily enough. 

Naruto listens to Ino and Sakura discussing some concert coming to town after that, finishing up his chips and juice in relative silence. It’s easy to exist like this. It’s straightforward: sit, listen, comment every once and awhile. Plus, it’s half the work of keeping the conversation rolling by himself. 

Sasuke and him have that in common, at least. The ability to turn invisible. 

Sometime after the food is completely gone, Naruto tunes back in to the conversation. 

“—hard to keep up with.” Sakura is saying to Sai, reaching up to pet the crown of her head. 

“It’s such an odd shade. A mix of 1895 and...217, maybe.” Sai’s eyes drag over the strands of Sakura’s hair, head dropping to the side. 

“It used to be more vibrant, but I started using a shampoo for pastel pink hair. Maybe that’s why it’s a weird colour.” 

“Did I tell you?” Ino suddenly pipes up, smiling excitedly. “I’ve been thinking of dying my hair blue.” 

Sakura’s eyes widen, and then she frowns a little. 

“I don’t think it would fit you, if I’m being honest. A blue tint, maybe. I have some stuff for it, actually, since I almost dyed my hair blue a while back—“

“Did you dye your own hair?” Sasuke asks suddenly, making everyone look at him. He’s on the verge of looking embarrassed when Sakura suddenly beams. 

“Yeah! I practised a lot in middle school and high school, so I’m pretty good at it. I’m working for my degree in cosmetology, also.” 

“Oh,” Sasuke says. “Well your hair looks nice.” 

“Thanks,” Sakura exhales, like she can’t believe the compliment. 

Neither can Naruto. 

“Since you have stuff for blue, do you think you could dye my hair?” Sasuke continues, dragging a hand through his own loose locks. “I mean, I know we don’t know each other, but—“

“No!” Sakura interrupts. “No, that would be totally fun! It would count as practise! We can go right now, if you want?” She’s already standing, nearly tripping over herself with haste. 

Ino looks vaguely grumpy, but stands with her. 

“Wait, what?” Naruto holds his hands out as if to steady himself, though he hasn’t begun to get up. 

“Come on,” Sasuke says to him, standing. 

He’s smiling to himself, like he’s just accomplished a great feat. 

Naruto squints at Sasuke as Sai and Ino begin to collect everything, Sakura talking rapidly to Sasuke about hair dye and other things Naruto can’t bother to care about. 

Sasuke is being  _ weird _ . He’s smiling and offering to help carry the tote bag(Ino declines, and then Sai takes it from her to hold it himself).

Those things were all normal enough—except that they weren't. Not for the grumpiest, proudest, rudest person Naruto has ever met. 

And yet. There he was, laughing with Sakura over a dumb joke.

After a moment of contemplation, Naruto realises. 

Sakura was got played. She was just  _ manipulated _ into dying Sasuke’s hair. 

It must have been natural for her to forget common sense, since Sasuke was, objectively, pretty attractive. And apparently carries his wits about his at all times. 

“You bastard,” Naruto mutters to himself unbelievably, grinning. He stuffs his hands in his pockets as he follows the group towards Ino’s car. 

Sasuke continues to chat with Sakura, and even reaches out at one point to brush her shoulder. 

He really was  _ such _ a bastard. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Silver Creek High School starts on a Tuesday, but I totally switched the days for convenience. No regrets? 
> 
> The scene where Iruka gives Naruto a compensation Kit Kat bar was added in for Moonshiro, who had a different perspective on this story. :)
> 
> My friend Jarorra has joined in on this story to help me write a little better. Hope it shows in this chapter we worked on together! 
> 
> (Also, if anyone can guess Sasuke’s backstory before it’s revealed, you can have my first born. And Jarorra’s. You still have a while, since it won’t be revealed for at least four more chapters.)

**Author's Note:**

> thanks for reading! leave a comment if you’d like.


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